September 29, 2007 / News / Police Blotter / Brooklyn Heights–Downtown

iStuff lost in late-night grabs

By Harry Cheadle

for The Brooklyn Paper

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A violent attempt to grab a woman’s iPhone ended when the cops fortuitously passed by and arrested the attacker at midnight, Sept. 21.

Perhaps inspired by jealousy for the $600 superphone, the mugger grabbed the woman from behind at the corner of Bridge and Front streets. He attempted to choke her, and also grabbed her face, injuring her lip.

She understandably wouldn’t let go of the must-have mobile device, and just then the cops happened to come by on patrol.

The officers restrained the 22-year-old man and put him into custody.

In other incidents:

• On Sept. 17 at 3 am, a man on his way to the store was ambushed by three nasty customers who beat him up and stole his iPod, Blackberry, and American and Russian currency.

The 23-year-old victim was walking near the corner of Jay and Plymouth streets when two men and a woman ran from behind him, kicked him to the ground, and cleaned out his pockets.

• On Sept. 22, a man walking along York Street at Pearl Street at 2:30 am was grabbed from behind, pushed around, and relieved of his iPod mini, Motorola cellphone, digital camera, $12 and credit cards.

Bad bus ride

An unusually polite mugger robbed a young woman while they were riding the bus early in the morning Sept. 18.

There were only two passengers on the bus as it neared the corner of Joralemon and Court streets at 2:30 am. One of them, a 5-foot-8 man, asked the other one, an 18-year-old woman, what her name was. After that formality was out of the way, he pulled out a switchblade and demanded her wallet. She complied, and he jumped off the bus, making off with $40 and a bus pass.

Subway stick-up

A woman entering a subway station on the evening of Sept. 21 was accosted by a man wearing an unusually nice jacket and had to give up her cash.

The victim was walking towards the B-train stop on DeKalb and Flatbush avenues when the mugger, who was described as wearing “messy, dirty, torn clothes,” approached her and said, “I have a knife. Give me your wallet! Hurry up!”

The woman took out $300 and handed it over and the man ran off along DeKalb.

Red handed

A man and a boy tried to break into a trailer near a police station on Sept. 22 and got caught with their tools at their feet.

A witness noticed the two crooks climbing over a fence surrounding a construction trailer on Gold Street near Tech Place — less than a block away from the 84th Precinct stationhouse — around 9:30 am.

The witness alerted a nearby officer, who went into the fenced-off area and found the team — a 28-year-old and his 14-year-old accomplice — in the middle of trying to break the trailer door open. They had a hacksaw, wire cutters, and a screwdriver on the ground next to them, and the door had brand-new scratches on it.

©2007 The Brooklyn Paper