Wedding rings stolen
An unfortunate woman lost both her $28,000 engagement ring and her $3,000 wedding ring to a sneaky thief while she was exercising at a Whitehall St. gym on Feb. 24, police said.
The woman, 43, told cops that she started working out in the New York Health and Racquet Club, at 39 Whitehall St., around 6 a.m., after securing her jewelry in a locker. But when she finished the workout around two hours later, she found that her lock had been picked — not broken — and realized that the two valuable rings, along with a $2,000 white gold necklace and a $2,000 garnet and emerald ring, were gone.
There were no witnesses, and although video from the gym’s lobby was made available to cops, they do not yet have a description or identification of the suspect.
Cable theft
Someone stole more than $4,000 worth of fiber optic cables from the roof of a residential building near the South Street Seaport on March 6, police said.
An employee of the Empire Telecommunications company reported the apparent theft to cops on March 10, saying that two large spools of the cables were missing from their place atop the seven-story building at 160 Front St. There were no signs of forced entry to the rooftop area, according to police, and that area is reportedly easy to access by the building’s many residents, as well as numerous telecommunications companies that utilize space on the roof.
There were no witnesses, and police said they are still investigating.
FiDi robbers
Police arrested two men, aged 21 and 24, early on March 3 after they tried to rob one person in the Financial District and then actually did rob another person minutes later.
The suspects first walked into the 7-Eleven store at 111 John St. around 11:30 p.m. on March 2, and asked a 19-year-old male employee to step outside, police said. On the sidewalk, the two suspects, aided by a third man, then reportedly tried to take the employee’s wallet by force, but they failed and then fled the scene.
Then, shortly before midnight, all three of the muggers approached another man near the corner of Pine and William Sts., threatened him with a knife and took his wallet, police said. After the incident was reported, cops arrived on the scene and, after a canvass of the area, were able to apprehend the 21-year-old and 24-year-old suspects, although the third one got away. The two men arrested were both charged with robbery and attempted robbery.
Chinatown hit and run
Police arrested a 20-year-old woman after they say she ran over an elderly man in Chinatown on Feb. 28 and then fled the scene.
The woman was driving a 2014 Infiniti Q50 west on Hester St. shortly before 7 a.m. when she made a left turn onto Bowery and struck the 63-year-old pedestrian, who was within the crosswalk, police said. The man suffered injuries to his head and hands, and after witnesses reported the incident, and was treated at Bellvue Hospital, according to cops.
After barreling the unwitting man over, the driver reportedly stepped outside her car, took a look at him, and sped away. But a witness was able to snap a photo of her, which he quickly provided to police. An immediate investigation by the N.Y.P.D.’s Collision Investigation Squad soon revealed that, following the incident, the suspect fled to Brooklyn over the Manhattan Bridge, police said.
And later that day, cops learned that the same Infiniti had been slapped with a parking ticket in Prospect Heights, after which officers there canvassed the area and spotted the car — although they found it was now being driven by a 23-year-old man. Shortly after that, both the female suspect and the man were apprehended. She was charged with leaving the scene of an accident, and both suspects were charged with unlicensed operation and unauthorized use of a vehicle.
Valuable losses
An opportunistic thief made off with a woman’s pricey shoulder bag on March 9 after she left it on the counter of a Tribeca pastry shop, police said.
The woman, 34, told cops she was with her children while making a purchase in Duane Park Patisserie, at 179 Duane St., around 3 p.m. when she placed the leather Louis Vuitton bag (valued at $800) near the cash register. She then stepped away from the counter to attend to the kids, after which she reportedly left the store, forgetting that she’d left the the bag behind. When she returned to the pastry shop two hours later, the bag — which contained $270 in cash, a Louis Vuitton wallet which held her credit and debit cards, and a pair of Ray Ban sunglasses — was gone.
And before that, a man also fell victim to a thief on March 5 after leaving his backpack unattended in a Financial District bar, police said.
The man, 30, told cops that he was with some friends inside Killarney Rose, at 127 Pearl St., around 6:45 p.m. when he placed the bag — containing his $1,800 laptop and his passport — on the floor. Around 20 minutes later, he walked over to pick up the backpack but realized it was gone.
And even before that, yet another woman had been targeted by a thief after leaving her $15,000 mink coat unattended at a Starbucks near City Hall.
The woman, 42, told cops she hung the coat on the back of a chair inside the 195 Broadway coffee shop after walking in around 4:30 p.m. She then walked over to the counter to buy a drink, and by the time she’d returned to her seat, the coat was gone.
—Sam Spokony
