Harassers & thieves on Stone St.
A good Samaritan tried to stop two men from harassing a woman and ended up having his iPhone stolen.
On Tues., May 12, at around 5 p.m., a 27-year-old saw two men bothering a woman at the corner of Broad and Stone Sts. in the Financial District and told them to stop, police say. The two then got very aggressive with the man, who lives in Brooklyn. He told police that one of the men, who was wearing a red polo shirt, shoved him and he fell. His head hit the concrete and he suffered swelling and abrasions.
He eventually took photos of the two men. One grabbed the $200 phone and gave it to the other. They then took off for the subway. Police say the man’s phone was turned off and not traceable.
Preschool hit
A preschool seems an unlikely target for a thief, but someone broke into the school at 2 South End Avenue on Sun., May 10, police say.
A female employee, 31, opened Preschool of America in Battery Park City in the morning and noticed that the drawer containing cash was forced open. The thief got away with $236 sometime during the night. It is unclear how the thief broke in as there was no forced entry. It is possible a window was left open; it was found ajar in the morning, police say.
BMW doesn’t do the job
Two men who stole copper wire from a construction site in the wee hours tried to use a BMW as a getaway car.
At a Con Edison site at 565 Washington St. in Tribeca, the two men used wire cutters to get at the copper wire, which is worth $1,000, police say. The incident took place on Wed., May 13 at 2:45 a.m. Someone at the site saw the two men take the wire and notified the police. The police arrested the two men — one 32, the other 39 — and they were found with the cooper wire on them, police say.
Bag swiped
A man was enjoying his food too much to notice that his bag — with his $1,300 laptop, $400 Blackberry, $40 worth of medication and wallet — was stolen, police say.
The 26-year-old was eating dinner at Beckett’s Bar & Grill at 81 Pearl St. in the Financial District on Tues., May 12 at around 7:30 p.m. and set his black laptop bag to his immediate right, police say. When the Midtown resident went to get his bag, it was gone and the thief got away with over $1,800 worth of stuff. He told police he didn’t notice any suspicious activity. So far, there have been no unauthorized charged on his credit cards.
Grand theft taxi
Jumping into a cab took on a whole new meaning when someone stole a taxi while the driver was checking the car’s tire pressure.
It was a little after midnight on Sun., May 10, when the driver, a 50-year-old from Staten Island, was checking his tires at the corner of South and Whitehall Sts. in the Financial District. He told police he saw a man run into the driver’s side, put the car into drive and take off.
Police arrested a suspect, 20, and the 2014 Toyota yellow cab was recovered.
— DUSICA SUE MALESEVIC
