Robbed almost at gunpoint
A robber pretending to have a gun stole nearly $37,000 from a Soho boutique last week.
The store, Kirna Zabete, is a chain that sells designer clothing, shoes and accessories. An employee, 39, of the 96 Greene St. location told police that at 11:50 a.m. on Thurs., June 13, three men entered the store and began to remove handbags from the store shelves.
The employee went over to them and asked, “What are you doing?” According to police, one of the men replied, “Back the [expletive] up, I have a gun.” He then pulled out a black cellphone, police said, and menaced the employee with the mock weapon.
Perhaps sensing that this would not hold up under scrutiny, the robbers fled from the store on foot with the merchandise and got into a white Chevy Impala with Pennsylvania plates, which police reported was last seen driving westbound on Prince St.
Police took the employee to canvass the area, without results. A tally of the stolen merchandise revealed that 14 handbags had been taken from the store, ranging from about $1,800 to $5,600 in value for a total loss of about $36,800.
Soho club assault
A woman reported to police that she had been hit with a bottle of Patrón while at Soho’s Greenhouse bar and nightclub last Wednesday.
The 21-year-old said she was at the 150 Varick St. location at about 4 a.m. on Wed., June 12 when a stranger hit her in the face with a bottle of the tequila. According to police, she did not call 911 at the scene but went on her own to a hospital. She received treatment from Jamaica Hospital in Queens and was told that she had multiple fractures to her face and a split lip.
She could not provide the N.Y.P.D. with a description of her attacker and it was unclear if video surveillance was available. In a separate incident in March, police arrested a woman at the basement event space W.i.P., which is attached to Greenhouse, for hitting a fellow nightclub patron in the face with an ice bucket.
Stolen purse
Another incident occurred last week at the basement event space W.i.P., listed at 34 Vandam St. when a woman reported that her purse was stolen from a secure space inside the club.
The woman, 23, stated that she had left her bag at about 2:45 a.m. on Sat., June 15, in an area designated for customers’ belongings which is secured by an employee of the club. She said she spent about one hour dancing before returning to pick it up, but was unable to find it or any of its contents. The bag contained her credit card, debit card, driver’s license, college ID, insurance card and keys. She said there had been no unauthorized charges on the cards at the time of the report, a day after the theft.
B.P.C. bicycle thief
A man reported that his bike was stolen while he was delivering food to a Battery Park City residence.
Police said the man, 37, left his bike outside 395 South End Ave. while making a food delivery at about 7:50 p.m. on Mon., June 10. He said he had chained the bike to itself, not to a fixed object and left it free standing. When he returned about 20 minutes later, his means of transport (and employment) was gone. The model was a $1,305 red and black Sparrow bicycle. A canvass for video was unsuccessful.
Laptop to go
An employee of Blueberry Fusion Café reported that a customer of the Tribeca coffee shop walked away with the business’s laptop which had been left sitting on the counter.
The employee, 36, told police that a man wearing a black baseball cap entered the cafe at about 7 p.m. on Fri., June 14, and ordered a coffee. The employee said he noticed that the man stood close to the counter where the $1,200 silver Macbook Pro was sitting, and lingered there, asking, “Can I have some more sugar?”
After the man had exited the store, the employee discovered that the laptop was also gone from the counter, police said. The employee stated there were no other customers in the store during that time, no video surveillance and no other witnesses.
Lens lifted
A photographer lost his lens to a thief in the crowd while taking pictures outside the Greenwich Hotel last week.
Police said that the 45-year-old man was taking photos on the sidewalk outside of 377 Greenwich St. from 11:15-11:50 a.m., on Wed., June 12. The man said he was in the midst of a large crowd on Greenwich St. while taking the pictures, and when he went to switch the lenses of his camera, he noticed that his $2,660 Canon zoom lens was not in his bag.
— Kaitlyn Meade
