Man beaten brutally outside Soho bar
Police are investigating the brutal robbery of a man outside a Soho bar and nightclub last month. The victim, 27, ended up unconscious in the hospital with no memory of how he got there, police reported.
The incident occurred shortly after the W.i.P. club closed, while hundreds of people, and uniformed officers were nearby. It was later reported that $1,000 in assorted bills had been taken from the victim’s possession.
The man said he was celebrating his birthday that night at a restaurant and then a bar and nightclub in Soho with his friends on Friday, April 26. When the bar, W.i.P., at 34 Vandam St., closed at around 4 a.m. on Saturday morning, he recalled leaving the premises, but said that the next thing he remembered was waking up in New York Downtown Hospital with the right side of his skull crushed in and his right eye coming out of its socket.
Dr. Hoschanner, according to police, said the injuries were most likely caused by the heel of an attacker kicking the victim in the side of the head. The injuries will require reconstructive surgery and he may lose eyesight in his right eye. A report was delayed because the victim was unconscious.
Police interviewed a friend of the victim who said that he and five coworkers went out to celebrate the victim’s birthday with a dinner at Sammy’s Restaurant at 157 Chrystie St, at about 9 p.m. The friend told police that he remembered the group drinking about three bottles of Ketel One vodka and stated that they were heavily intoxicated by the time they left but that they did not cause trouble.
They paid the tab and made their way to W.i.P., a bar and nightclub at which they had a reservation, between midnight and 12:30 a.m. The victim’s friend said they only waited outside for about 10 minutes and when they got inside they were seated near the entrance and D.J. booth. None of the group went to the bar for drinks or pulled out cash during their time at the club, he said, as the drinks were paid for with the company card and brought directly to the table by staff.
At 4 a.m., the lights came on to signal that the club was shutting down and patrons were asked to leave. The victim’s friend said he got split up in the mass exodus of about 500 people pouring onto the street.
As the friend tried to flag a limo, he said he got a call from another member of the party, saying they had found a limo and were waiting in front of the Soho Trump hotel, around the corner on Spring St. As he was walking, he said he saw uniformed patrol officers and an ambulance all monitoring the people exiting the club.
However, when the friend arrived at the northeast corner of Spring and Varick Sts., he said he saw his party peering at him from the windows of a limo and the victim, allegedly still standing, across the street with his face covered in blood.
The victim reportedly said, “I just want to go home.” The friend took him to the hospital in a taxi at about 4:30 a.m.
Camera snatchers
A teenager was robbed by two other teens, one of whom pretended to carry a firearm, while shopping at a Soho store, police said.
The 15-year-old was shopping at Kiosk, a shop that sells “odds and ends” from art to home supplies to hardware, on the second floor of 95 Spring St. At about 7 p.m., on Fri., May 3, the victim said that another teen, about 16 years old, approached him and asked, “Do you know what this is?” and attempted to grab the victim’s $500 Nikon digital camera from his hands.
He did not let go of the camera, however, and the two were struggling for it, the victim said, when the robber said, “My man’s got the grip.” At this point, an accomplice allegedly came forward and reached for his waistband, as though he was about to pull out a gun. The first teen got the camera and both fled the scene. A police canvass turned up no results.
Watch taken for a spin
The merchandise stolen from Porsche Design was nowhere near the worth one of their sports cars, but it still tips the scale. A man walked out from the Soho boutique at 65 W Broadway with a watch worth $12,440.
An employee of the store told police that there is security footage of a man entering the store at about 3:35 p.m. on Sun., May 5, lifting the glass case and removing a black Indicator Chronograph watch. He then put the watch in his jeans pocket and attempted to wipe his prints off of the display case before exiting through the front door, police said.
He was described as a bald, 35-year-old black man, about 5’10” and 185 pounds in jeans and a white shirt.
Religious conviction
Police arrested six people at the True Religion shop in Soho in the past week, four for shoplifting and two for fraud.
The high-end jeans store at 132 Prince St. has been a magnet for thieves, but this week was payback as four of them found out. Travis Haynes, 24; Durrell Hibbert, 29; Tanya McFarlane, 27; and Rashana Lee, 22 were arrested on Sat., May 4 for attempted robbery when they reportedly tried to make off with $198 Trooper Cargo pants. An employee said they entered the store at about 6:44 p.m., concealed the merchandise and then tried to leave, using force to do so.
A case of fraud was also reported on Thurs., May 2 just after noon when two minors allegedly attempted to purchase merchandise with a stolen credit card. The thieves, 15 and 16 years old, charged the stolen card for six pairs of jeans, worth a total of $1,869.38.
— KAITLYN MEADE
