LIGHTER LARCENY
Thieves made off with a $14,000 lighter from a luxury smokes shop inside Brookfield Place on April 23.
Surveillance footage from Davidoff of Geneva near West Street shows three men inside the store at around 3 pm, including one man with a six-year-old boy, according to manager Rudy Perez.
As two of the men distracted an sales employee, the third man instructed his young boy to run for the exit, giving him an excuse give chase — with the expensive Haute Couture lighter in hand.
The hand-made lighter, which is gold plated and encrusted with gem stones, isn’t the store’s most expensive fire starter — that honor falls to a Dupont lighter the store sells for a whopping $25,000, according to Perez.
APPLE PICKING
Two brazen shoplifters nabbed a pair of iPhone 7s from a display at a Greenwich Street electronics vendor on May 3.
An employee told police the suspects were spotted inside the retailer between Fulton and Dey streets at 5:45 pm, when they grabbed the top-of-the-line smart phones, together worth $1,498.
GRAND THEFT AUTO
A thief drove off with a man’s Nissan Sentra he parked on Wall Street on May 6.
The victim told police he left his car near William Street at 5 pm, and returned the next day to find his $15,000 ride stolen.
FAST REACTION
A thief nabbed a woman’s wallet from her purse inside a West Broadway diner on May 1.
The victim told police she was inside the eatery between W. Houston and Prince streets at 7 pm, when she left her purse underneath a table as she went to pay for her supper.
When she returned, the woman discovered her pocketbook knocked over and her wallet stolen, cops said.
The woman wisely canceled her credit cards with her bank immediately following the theft, and was later informed the thief had attempted one unsuccessful transaction with her cards, according to police.
BAD TOUCH
Two sly thieves nabbed a man’s wallet from his pocket on South Street on May 2.
The victim told police that he was near Whitehall Street at 2 pm, when one of the crooks gave him a tender hug, while the other took the opportunity to reach into his pocket and grab his valuables.
— Colin Mixson
