Fearless & lucky at gunpoint
Three women were luckily left standing after attempting to fight with the men robbing them at gunpoint in Soho on Wed., July 3.
One of the women, 54, said she was smoking a cigarette in front of a residential building on Grand St. between Wooster and Greene Sts., at about 1:15 a.m. when she was approached by two men. The first man, wearing a black hoodie, pulled out a black firearm with a brown handle and told her to give him her wallet. According to police, she told the robber she didn’t have a wallet and that he “did not have the balls to shoot her.” She said the man then pointed the gun at her chest, while the other man, wearing a black jacket and white baseball cap, said, “shoot, shoot, shoot.” Thankfully, the gunman did not fire.
The second man went over to the other two women who were loading their belongings into a car, and began to take their property out of the vehicle. Police said the second woman, 49, noticed what was happening and fought with the robber, who kicked her. He then threatened the third woman, 53, and told her to hand over her wallet, police said. She also told them that she did not have a wallet and then called 911, causing the duo to flee north on Greene St. A woman in a du-rag was seen fleeing with the two robbers, according to police, who believe she may have been a lookout
No injuries were reported.
Road rager arrested
Police arrested a man they say assaulted a traffic agent after he repeatedly tried to turn onto a blocked street, and then nearly ran the traffic agent over.
Blake Opdenhoff, 26, was arrested on Sat., July 6 after an incident at 1:26 in the afternoon on West St. in Lower Manhattan. A police officer said he witnessed Opdenhoff attempting to make a right turn onto Canal St. from West St. despite the fact that the entrance to the street was blocked with traffic cones. A traffic agent said he told the driver that he could not go that way and asked him to stop multiple times. The driver attempted to continue onto Canal anyway, police said. The agent then turned and indicated the police presence on the scene, saying, there is a police officer right there.
Instead of backing down, police said that Opdenhoff accelerated, nearly hitting the traffic agent, who was forced to jump out of the way. Opdenhoff was pulled over on Canal at Washington St. and immediately got out of his vehicle toward the police officer. The officer told him to get back in his vehicle, which he did, before being placed under arrest. Police said that razor blades were found in his possession. He was brought to the Port Authority bus terminal for processing and was charged with assault on a “peace officer.”
Mercedes carjacked
A man’s night at the South Street Seaport ended badly when his Mercedes-Benz became the target of a carjacker.
In addition to his vehicle, he said that the carjacker took a $1,500 cross necklace with diamonds, his shirt, and his $300 prepaid MetroPCS cell phone. Without his cell, he said he could not call 911, and instead went to a friend’s place in the area where he waited over an hour until 5:45 a.m. to alert to police to the situation. A police canvass was negative and no video of the incident could be found.
Empty purse pinched
A purse snatcher got both more and less than he bargained for when he ran off with a woman’s bag but none of its contents.
According to police, the 24-year-old woman was robbed on the sidewalk in front of 129 Front St. at about 3:45 in the afternoon, on Sun., June 30. The woman said she was walking along the street when a man grabbed her purse and pulled on it.
She pulled back because the bag was attached across her body on a strap. She said she cut her finger while trying to hold onto the purse. The man ripped it open and then fell, she said, and her belongings spilled out. The robber took the ripped $50 blue purse but left her belongings on the ground and got into a silver Hyundai with New York plates, police said. The man was described as about 40 years old, 5’7”, 160 pounds with short, gray hair and grey jeans. He also left behind a bracelet.
Art cart theft
A Soho art vendor reported to police that her paintings were stolen from her cart as she was about to set up for the day.
The vendor, 67, said that she had left her cart on the northwest corner of Spring St. and West Broadway on Sun., July 7 at about 10:35 a.m. She went to the southwest corner of the intersection where she planned to set up shop to chat with another vendor for about ten minutes. When she went back for her cart, she discovered that the brown bag on top of the cart, containing some of her paintings, was missing. She told police she did not see anyone remove the bag and no video surveillance of the area was available.
The paintings, ranging from a $360 16×20 inch oil painting of the Pope, to a $118 pebble collage of a cat, were valued at about $1,453, the woman reported.
Citi Bike thieves caught
Either they were way over their 30 minutes or wanted more than a yearly subscription, because police arrested two young men who were apparently riding around Battery Park City on a blue bike they didn’t pay for. On Wed., July 3, two teens, 15 and 17, were apprehended in front of 200 North End Ave. for possession of a stolen Citi Bike, valued at $1,200. Police did not report how they had stolen the bicycle.
— KAITLYN MEADE
