September 15, 2007: Vol. 30, No. 36

78th Precinct

Contractors are suspected in at least two burglaries last week, cops said.

In the first case, $1,000 in jewelry was stolen from a Prospect Park West apartment on Aug. 28, police said.

The residents of the unit, which is between Sixth and Seventh streets, told cops that only the contractor had access to the apartment.

When they returned home, the couple discovered that the jewelry box, which had been hidden in a closet, had been cracked open and three items, valued at $1,400 together, had been stolen.

Soon after, $2,000 in jewelry — plus $350 and a camera — were removed from a President Street apartment, cops said.

The tenant told police that a contractor working in the building had been given access to her apartment that day.

Two-time loser

A Crown Heights man was arrested for stealing a teacher’s wallet in her Park Place school and then for stealing a guitar out of a Carroll Street church on Sept. 7.

The perp’s busy day began at just after 8 am, when he entered PS 77 and stole a wallet out of a 35-year-old woman’s purse, cops said.

The 50-year-old thief then went to Our Lady of Peace church, which is between Third and Fourth streets, and stole the guitar, police said.

Asleep at wallet

A woman who had fallen asleep after getting a massage at a Seventh Avenue spa woke up to discover that a man had taken her wallet on Sept. 6.

Police said that the perp had asked the receptionist at the front desk if he could enter the spa, which is at Carroll Street, to “get some water.”

But he took more than just a drink, swiping the sleeping beauty’s wallet, which contained credit cards.

Goods gone

A Fifth Avenue couple left their house for six hours on Sept. 8, which was long enough for a thief to break in, ransack the place, and leave with a computer and a digital camera, cops said.

The couple told police that they left the apartment, which is between First and Second streets, at 12:30 pm. They said that the apartment window was not locked.

The laptop and camera were valued at $800.

Fish hater

The good news is that the fish are safe. But the bad news is that $800 was stolen from a Fifth Avenue seafood market on Sept. 6, cops said.

The thief bent two security bars and then entered through a rear window at around 10:20 am before helping himself to the cash from two registers, police said.

The police report indicates that no fish or other seafood was stolen.

Music died

A DJ lost the tools of her trade to a fast-moving thief on Sept. 3.

The 28-year-old disc jockey told cops that she put her record-filled bag on the ground while she loaded other equipment into a cab at the corner of Vanderbilt Avenue and Grand Army Plaza at around 5:30 pm.

When she returned her attention to the bag — which also contained her headphones and $400 sunglasses — it was gone.

Bike thief

A man was arrested after a cop watched him clip a bicycle lock just after midnight on Sept. 6 on Union Street, police said.

After Officer Maria Solano moved in to make the arrest, the 47-year-old thief stabbed the cop several times with his lock-cutting shears and then flailed around to resist arrest, police said.

The incident was logged as an assault against a police officer, though Officer Solano’s injuries were not reported.

Bar tab

Pretty much every week someone sets down a bag at a bar — and pretty much every week, we print a version of the following item:

A 29-year-old woman who put her bag down at the Black Sheep Bar on Bergen Street for just “10 minutes” on Sept. 4 returned to find that the wallet had been removed.

She lost $85 and various credit, debit and gift cards in the 11:30 pm theft at the popular Aussie-themed eatery, just west of Fifth Avenue.

Pocket picked

A man who had attended the annual West Indian–American Parade on Labor Day and stayed on to partake of a concert performance had his wallet picked near Grand Army Plaza at around 1 am, police said.

By the time he called his credit card companies, he was informed that the perps had already bought “multiple” monthly Metrocards.

Stolen lives

At least three people reported that thieves had stolen their identities and used the information to ring up big charges on credit cards or make withdrawals from their bank accounts. Here are the details:

• A 39-year-old St. Johns Place man told cops that his Discover Card had been used to ring up charges at a Target in Valley Stream, several gas stations and a Metrocard machine. In all, the thief stole $770.

• A 37-year-old Berkeley Place man said an unknown person successfully signed himself up for five credit cards using the victim’s name. That thief bought more than $8,000 in goods from Home Depot and Toys R Us.

• A Ninth Street man told cops that someone withdrew $6,794 from his Sovereign Bank account.

2 for the road

At least two vehicles were stolen off Park Slope streets last week:

• A 40-year-old man told cops that he had parked his Yamaha motorcycle on Pacific Street, between Fourth and Flatbush avenues on Sept. 7 at 8 pm. The $7,500 machine was gone when he returned to it the next morning at 10:30.

• A 38-year-old man said he had parked his 1999 Honda Accord on 10th Street between Eighth Avenue and Prospect Park West on Sept. 4 at just after midnight. Four days later, it was gone.

Some friend

A woman whose friend was doing some construction work while she was recovering in the hospital returned home to find that her $10,000 diamond bracelet had been stolen.

The 68-year-old woman told cops that only the friend had access to the apartment, which is on Sixth Avenue near Sixth Street, while she was recuperating between Sept. 1 and 4.

Cops suspect the contractor not only because of that, but because he “is known to take part in criminal activity,” according to the police report.

©2007 The Brooklyn Paper