Drunk van thief nabbed at checkpoint
A man was arrested for stealing a delivery van after being stopped at a police checkpoint last week near City Hall. As a companion, police say he had an 18-pack of Bud in the passenger seat — with six cans already drunk.
It all started at 6:15 a.m. on Fri., Oct. 24, when a 44-year-old employee of A&M Tasty Snack Inc., was fixing his load in the back of his van on State St. Meanwhile, the 45-year-old suspect jumped into the van, which had the keys into the ignition, and took off.
The employee flagged a taxi and followed the van, losing it somewhere in the vicinity at Montgomery and Madison St. Police set up a checkpoint at Vesey St., which the suspect, from Staten Island, tried to avoid by turning left on Ann St.
Police say they stopped the suspect and he admitted to having a few beers in the morning. The Tasty Snack employee was brought to the scene, police say, and said, “Yes, that is the guy that stole my truck.”
The suspect planned on selling the 2008 yellow G.M. van, worth more than $12,000, to a friend at Ave. D and 10th St., according to police. When the friend was a no-show, the suspect was trying to return the car to the place he took it from. The man was arrested at 10:14 a.m. and taken to the Seventh Precinct.
Ever-patient Zipcar reports theft
A 2015 silver sedan Cadillac Zipcar, worth $38,500, was last seen at a Tribeca garage at 270 Greenwich St. around 1 p.m. on Aug. 13. The employee who reported the theft on Sat., Oct. 25 said the company was waiting for the car to be returned.
The car’s G.P.S system has been disabled. Zipcar said that the car had been rented with a fraudulent credit card. Police say there is no video available and a canvass yielded no result.
High-end handbag heist
A thief got away with $4,405 worth of purses from Halston Heritage at 59 Greene St. in Soho last weekend.
The suspect removed the 12 purses, which ranged in color and cost, from a wall display sometime between 5:20 and 6 p.m. on Sun., Oct 26. A female employee noticed the handbags were missing and reported the theft a half hour later. Police say there was no video surveillance and a canvass produced no results.
Bump & run with purses
While a Brooklyn woman attended to her five-year-old nephew in the Financial District last week, a thief got away with her purse and $771 worth of stuff after bumping into her.
The 42-year-old woman said she realized the purse was gone after going to purchase something from a vendor in front of 2 Cortlandt St. around 5:40 p.m. on Tues., Oct. 21. Inside the bag was a $600 digital camera and credit cards, which the woman cancelled. Police say no unauthorized charges were made.
In a different Financial District incident, soon after a German tourist disembarked from the Staten Island ferry, she realized her $400 iPhone 5S was stolen from front right sweater pocket after a man bumped into her at Broad and Water Sts. at about 4 p.m. on Sun., Oct. 26. The 24-year-old told police that the phone’s battery may have run out, and the Find My Phone app did not work.
Pizza with a side of theft
Police say they arrested two teenage Brooklyn women for stealing a Pennsylvanian man’s wallet at Ben’s Pizza in Soho last week.
The 33-year-old tourist left his wallet with $70 on top of the counter top at the while he went to the restroom at 177 Spring St., at 4:30 p.m. on Fri., Oct. 24. Police say the man’s wife watched the two suspects take the wallet and leave, at which point she apparently contacted police. One of the suspects is 16, the other 17.
— Dusica Sue Malesevic
