November 3, 2007: Vol. 30, No. 43

Maybe they were just frustrated dentists.

In a bizarre mugging, a gang of men stole the gold caps right out of a mentally handicapped 46-year-old man’s mouth early on Oct. 28.

The man — who, according to his aunt, is mentally handicapped due to a metal plate in his head — was walking down Classon Avenue at 4:30 am to meet his daughter at work. He was at the corner of Fulton Street when four strangers, who had been following him, grabbed him from behind. Three of them restrained their victim while the fourth went through his pockets.

After they found nothing, they resorted to amateur dentistry. Noticing the man had four gold-capped teeth, the thugs snatched the caps — worth $120 — right out of his mouth.

Museum heist

A Fort Greene museum specializing in contemporary African art was burglarized the afternoon of Oct. 23, but the artwork is safe — thieves only took a laptop computer.

The Dell laptop was stolen from the management offices of the museum, which is located on the corner of Hanson Place and South Portland Avenue. Museum employees said that the computer was there at 12:30 pm, but four hours later, it had mysteriously vanished.

There was no sign of forced entry, cops said. The unknown perp could have been recorded by security cameras either at the museum or outside of the nearby Brooklyn Academy of Music, but the tapes have yet to be reviewed.

Vehicle thefts

At least two cars and a bike were stolen from area streets last week, and $14,000 of jewelry and a master copy of a music video were taken from another vehicle.

In the first incident, on Oct. 23, a 27-year-old woman, who had secured her $1,200 bike at the corner of Ashland Place and DeKalb Avenue at 12:30 pm found it missing when she returned four hours later.

The two cars were stolen less than a block away from each other on Myrtle Avenue. The first was a 2002 GM Envoy that had been parked near Grand Avenue for only half an hour around 7 pm on Oct. 25.

The other incident occurred that night when a 45-year-old man parked his 2004 Buick LeSabre at the corner of Hall Street at 11 pm. The gray sedan had disappeared by the time he got back to it at 6 the next morning.

The last car to be broken into wasn’t stolen, but it was almost as bad for the 23-year-old victim. She had left her black 1998 Lincoln Navigator on Waverly Avenue near Myrtle Avenue around 9 pm on Oct. 27, but returned an hour later to discover that her window had been broken and her cellphone, $2,000 diamond ring, $5,000 gold band, and a master copy of a music video — which she said was worth $5,100 — were gone.

Teen angst

A trio of 15-year-old girls brutally assaulted another 15-year-old on Oct. 22, but thanks to a witness and a nearby patrol, the cops apprehended the delinquent divas.

The victim was walking down Carlton Avenue and was near Fulton Street at around 7 pm when the gang approached her and began punching and kicking her without any warning.

They also took her wallet, which contained $100, but a bystander who watched the attack called 911. When the cops arrived, they found their sultry suspects and put them into custody.

Bad roomie

There are bad roommates who play loud music and have too many parties, and then there are bad roommates who pistol-whip you and threaten you until you fork over your paycheck.

A 42-year-old man said he had one of the latter, and reported his alleged blackmailer to the cops on Oct. 28, after enduring two weeks of abuse in their apartment on Clinton Avenue near DeKalb Avenue.

Big bullies

A pair of older teens harassed a 16-year-old — and took his designer glasses — while the kid was just trying to take the subway home on Oct. 23.

The teen was minding his own business on the platform at the Clinton–Washington station around 3 pm when the two bullies, both allegedly wearing Bishop Loughlin HS jackets, approached him and asked for his Sidekick cellphone.

The teen refused and put the phone in his pocket, but one of the thugs taunted him and snatched his prescription Ray-Bans from his head.

“Thanks for the glasses,” the thief said, before the pair ran out of the station.

Stealing home

A woman’s bag was snatched right off her hallway table on Oct. 23 by a speedy burglar.

The 28-year-old victim was in the basement of her apartment, on Washington Avenue near Fulton Street, when she heard the front door open and close around 11:30 pm, and assumed it was the grandmother coming back in after taking out the trash.

When she came back upstairs a few minutes later, however, she discovered that her bag was missing from the table and her grandmother was nowhere in sight. The bag contained $50, and her Louis Vuitton wallet.

Burglar busted

A burglar was identified on the street and taken into custody — although not without a struggle — by cops on Oct. 26.

The 39-year-old man wasn’t doing anything suspicious as he walked down Willoughby Avenue near Vanderbilt Avenue at 11 am, but the patrol noted that he fit the description of a known burglar and stopped him for questioning.

The man produced ID, but it wasn’t his, and while they were asking him more questions and preparing to cuff him, he sprung into action, punching one officer in the face and running away.

The cops pursued him and caught up fairly quickly, after which they searched him, discovering tools that could have been used to break into homes, a stolen Chase debit card, and methadone — a controlled substance often used to treat heroin addicts.

Unhappy end

A young man’s night out ended badly when he was attacked and relieved of his bag while walking home early of Oct. 27.

The 25-year-old was walking on Myrtle Avenue near North Portland Avenue around 3:30 am when he was abruptly tackled from behind by a 5-foot-9 perp who shouted, “Give me your money!”

This mugger was soon joined by a partner in crime, and they both kicked the victim while he was on the ground and went through his pockets before grabbing his book bag off his back and running off.

The bag contained no money, but a Verizon cellphone and a pair of sunglasses.

©2007 The Brooklyn Paper