Sidewalk robbery
A woman was pushed down and robbed as she walked home on New Year’s Day.
The victim, 25, told police that she was walking along Watts St. at 8:15 a.m. when she was shoved from behind on the southeast corner of Watts and Greenwich Sts. The man covered her mouth and reached into her pocket and handbag. He removed her black iPhone, wallet and credit cards and fled east on Watts. She cancelled both her bank card and her cell phone service and called police.
Bitten thumb
One man reported that the tip of his thumb was bitten off during a fight a few hours into the new year.
According to police, the 27-year-old had been involved in a physical altercation on Jan. 1 at 3:45 a.m. in front of 135 Reade St. with an unknown aggressor, reportedly as busboy at Brushstroke Restaurant on 30 Hudson St. The victim then reported that the man bit off the tip of his right thumb before fleeing the scene, leaving a knife behind. A police canvas turned up no results on video footage. The knife was recovered by police, the thumb tip was not.
Gun-toting mugger
Mercer St. was the site of a robbery on Sun., when a woman was threatened at gunpoint.
The victim, 28, and a female friend were walking north on Mercer St. at 8:45 p.m. on Sun., Dec. 30. In front of 40 Mercer St., she was approached from behind by a man who said, “Hey, ladies,” while grabbing her handbag. Police say he turned towards her, pointed a black handgun at her side and told her to “give me your bag.” He then fled south on Mercer and turned east on Grand St.
A witness saw him get into a tan S.U.V. with New York license plates. However, police say he got out of the vehicle again and continued down Grand St. on foot, while the vehicle also took off. The doorman at 40 Mercer St. witnessed the incident. Police recovered her purse in front of 139 Canal St. The only items still missing were two credit cards, which were cancelled with no unauthorized usage reported on them.
Garage theft
A parking garage operator’s phone and laptop were lifted from his office while he was at work.
At 3:45 a.m. on Fri., Dec. 28, a night-shift employee of LAZ Parking at 15 William St. stated that he left his iPhone, valued at $740, and his Macbook, valued at $1,700, inside the management office while he went to park a customer’s car. When he returned ten minutes later, the items were gone. He told police that he had tried to use the items’ built-in tracking software, but both were offline.
Locker room larceny
It is not practical to carry your wallet while weight-lifting, but be wary of leaving your valuables in an unattended locker room, as they continue to be targets of theft.
Two men found this to be true on Fri., Dec. 28, at Crunch Gym at 90 John St. The two victims were 36 and 47 years old. The first victim told police that he entered the gym at about 11:45 a.m. and returned to his locker at 2 p.m. to find that the combination lock had been removed along with his wallet, containing credit and membership cards. The thief later attempted to use one of the cards to purchase a necklace worth over $40,000. Among the two victims, police reported that about $400 in cash had also been taken. Police arrested Jose Ortiz, 42, in connection with the crime.
Soho shoplifting
A shoplifting spree at a Soho boutique turned into a robbery when an employee tried to intervene. The employee, a 23-year-old female and her coworker, 29, told police they were working at Olive and Bette’s, a trendy clothing shop, when five people attempted to walk out with unpaid merchandise.
According to police, the group entered the store at about 1:30 p.m. on Sun., Dec. 30 and started removed the merchandise, totaling $3,340. The employee confronted them and was pushed and punched by a male shoplifter. The shoplifters then left the store and fled in different directions. Police are seeking three women, ages 40, 16 and 15, and two men, one of whom is about 18 and the other unknown.
Another shoplifting incident at 3.1 Philliplim at 115 Mercer St. featured a smooth operator who walked out wearing a $1,095 jacket, according to police. At 5:15 p.m., on Thurs., Dec. 27, a customer of undetermined gender with a long black ponytail approached the store’s security officer with the jacket in hand and asked if he could get a different size. Security then went to a store employee for help. The thief then hung the jacket on a rack, removed it from the hanger, put it on and walked out. Security footage is available but no arrests were made by press time.
Jeans jacked
Another shoplifting spree, this time on Wall St., involved no fewer than seven perpetrators.
An employee of True Religion at 14 Wall St. reported to police that at 2:35 p.m. on Mon., Dec. 24, seven people entered the specialty jeans store and distracted employees while surreptitiously storing $2,000 in merchandise in a backpack. The incident was not reported until 3 days later.
—Kaitlyn Meade
