Criminal Mischief: All bets are off
Saturday night’s all right for…pushing? With barely a half hour left on the clock, four males entered Am & Al Deli (at 374 Eighth Ave., at 29th St.) on the evening of Sat., May 10. After becoming involved in a heated exchange with the clerk, one of the men pushed the lottery machine off of the counter. Although the device was not damaged beyond repair, there were no winners in this unfortunate fracas.
Harassment: Cleaning house is a dirty business
Dirt day afternoon? A Ninth Ave. bodega worker was nearly assaulted, at around 2:45pm on Sun., May 11. That’s when he tried to close his store, just for a few minutes, in order to clean the place — but he was met at the door by a prospective customer, who felt so strongly about conducting his own supermarket sweep, that he threatened to kill the shopkeeper if the temporary shutdown went ahead as planned. Based on a description, police canvasses the area for the perp — but the mouthy, would-be mom and pop patron was nowhere to be found.
Petty Larceny: Those weren’t my friends
It’s always darkest before the dawn — and sometimes, it’s downright dangerous. That was the case for a 35-year-old man, who was standing near the 1 Oak nightclub (453 W. 17 St., btw. Ninth & 10th Aves.) shortly after 5:15am on Sun., May 11. Approached by two men — whom the victim confidently believed himself to be acquainted with — he handed over his iPhone (worth $600), so they could enter their contact information. One of the perps passed the pricey device to the other, who pretended to return it to the victim (via his back pocket). The two men then left the scene — and a short time later, the victim went to retrieve his phone, only to discover that it was missing.
Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance: Park Perp
At around 8:30am on Sun., May 11, police observed a man who was hanging out, sans a youthful charge, inside of Penn South Playground (in the rear of 321 Eighth Ave.). Signs posted in the park clearly indicate that it’s off limits to those who are not accompanying children under 12. Upon confronting the man, police removed a pipe (which contained crack cocaine residue) from the perp’s front jacket pocket. He was then taken into custody.
—Scott Stiffler
