Motorcycle thefts
Three motorcycles went missing from Downtown streets in the last month, police reported — a Harley and two gray Yamahas. The owner of one of the Yamahas, 32, told police that he left his bike parked in front of 233 Water St. between 8 p.m. on July 1 and the same time on July 9. When he returned to his parking spot, the bike, a $6,500 2007 model with New York plates, was gone.
His motorcycle’s younger sibling was stolen from Battery Park City last week on Fri., July 19. The chic new 2013 gray Yamaha with New York plates, valued at $14,000, was parked at 5 p.m. in front of 200 Rector Place, police said. When the owner, 38, came back at 6:15 p.m. that night, his motorcycle was missing. A check of the tow pound and area canvass turned up no results, police reported.
A Harley-Davidson was also swiped from near the South Street Seaport on Mon., July 15. A 50-year-old man from Mt. Verrnon, N.Y., told police that he had left his bike opposite 117 Beekman St. between 1:30 and 3 p.m. that day, but when he got back, his bike was no longer there. There was no glass on the street or other signs of damage, police reported. The man said he checked the Pier 76 tow pound, but was unable to locate his vehicle.
Ride-by larceny
A different kind of bike theft occurred when two people reported having gadgets grabbed from them by strangers on bicycles.
A 34-year-old woman said that she was on the corner of Fulton and William Sts. on Sat., July 20 at 12:30 p.m. talking on her iPhone, when a bald man rode by her on a blue mountain bike, grabbed the phone from her hand and rode away down William St. When she tried to use the “Find My Phone” app for her $500 device, she could not get a signal, police said.
Later that day, a 31-year-old man reported to police that he was sitting in front of 12 Vandam St. at about 7:55 p.m. on July 20, when a stranger rode past on a dark blue or black bicycle and grabbed the man’s laptop from his lap. The bicyclist was described as a man, about 5’10” and 170 pounds, but the victim did not see his face and no video surveillance footage was available, police said. The laptop was a $2,000 silver Macbook Pro in a black shell case.
Shorts shoplifters
A group of shoplifters with a peculiar penchant for pricey red shorts hit a popular jeans brand location in Soho.
An employee, 31, told police that three people, two women and a man who were all about 20 years old, entered the True Religion store at 132 Prince St. and walked out with about $1,300 in merchandise. The employee said the store’s surveillance camera showed the three shoplifters conceal seven pairs of red cargo shorts and leave the store at 5:11 p.m. on Sun., July 21.
The video also showed that none of them touched any surfaces in the store, though police did find a cup that one of them had left behind to dust for fingerprints.
Gym locker break-in
Gym locker looters struck again in FiDi last week, police reported.
A man working out at the 54 Murray St. Equinox gym called police on Sat., July 20 to report that his belongings had been stolen from inside his locked locker from 9:50-10:10 a.m. that morning. The man, 27, said that he put his belongings inside a locker and secured it.
When he returned to the locker room, he said that the lock had been removed and his belongings had been taken, including a $520 iPad Mini, a $20 backpack, a $40 wallet, $50 iPod shuffle, his credit cards, debit cards, New York ID, two pairs of shoes, a tank top and his keys.
Cell pickpocket at Soho club
The phone went from her bag to someone else’s hand at a Soho club on Wed., July 17. A 21-year-old woman reported to police that someone had taken her iPhone from her bag at the Greenhouse bar and nightclub at 150 Varick St. between 3:15 and 3:30 a.m. that night, even though she said she was wearing the bag on her shoulder the whole time. She said that the club was crowded and people were bumping into her all night.
Burglars go for more bars
Ten cell phones were taken during a break-in at the T-Mobile store at 29 John St., police reported.
An employee of the store, 31, said that the burglary occurred while the store was closed over the weekend between 5 p.m. on Sat., July 19 and 8:15 a.m. on Mon., July 15. The burglar or burglars cut the gate to the storefront with an unknown tool, police said, and then threw a red pipe cap into the side window next to the front door, breaking the glass. The alarm was bypassed and the motions sensors were not functioning. The thieves bagged three iPhone 5 S devices worth $649 each, a BlackBerry and Android phones. The total merchandise stolen was valued at $4,799, the employee reported.
Video surveillance was only available from the camera outside at 17 John St.
Balenciaga bag nabbed
A woman walked out of Soho’s fashionable Balenciaga boutique last week with a stolen bag under her arm.
An employee of the designer store reported to police that the woman, wearing silver sandals and a pink dress, entered the 138 Wooster St. location at 1:15 p.m. on Mon., July 15. The woman asked to see a pair of shoes in a different size, and when the employee went to fetch them, she left the store with a purloined $1,695 black Balenciaga perforated handbag.
In May, shoplifters got away with almost $7,000 in merchandise from Balenciaga in a coordinated snatch and grab.
–KAITLYN MEADE
