December 22, 2007: Vol. 30, No. 50

Police arrested a 26-year-old Carroll Gardens man on Tuesday for allegedly robbing two Downtown banks on Fulton Street four times in a five-day crime spree.

The hapless robber even robbed one of the banks twice in the same day.

Police report that the robber first struck on Dec. 14 at the HSBC branch at the corner of Fulton Street and Boerum Place, entering at around 10:30 am and handing a teller a note demanding money. The teller gave up a $450 “bait bag” containing marked bills. When the robber demanded more money, the teller played dumb and the man eventually fled.

The next day, police say the same man walked into the Bank of America just one block away, again at about 10:30 am. This time, his note demanded $40,000 and included a threat to shoot through the Plexiglas barrier.

The 22-year-old teller handed over $3,500, but, again, the robber demanded more. When he didn’t get any more, he ran off.

The robber returned to the same Bank of America on Monday morning — and again on Monday afternoon.

In the 10 am incident, he handed the teller a note and got away with $2,700. The suspect returned four hours later and got way with another $1,100.

Police finally arrested their suspect at 9 am on Dec. 18. He was standing in front of the same bank, where an employee recognized him and called the cops.

When they arrested him, he had another note demanding money in his pocket according to a law enforcement source familiar with the case.

DUMBO heists

Two DUMBO grocery stores were robbed in separate attacks on Dec. 9, police said.

In the first incident, two gun-toting perps entered a store on Jay Street between Front and Water streets at around 10 pm.

One gunman pistol-whipped his 28-year-old victim and stole $800 from the cash register.

In the second incident, a high-end supermarket on Front Street was burglarized for three laptop computers, cops said.

The thief also tried to crack the safe during his overnight attack.

D’oh nuts!

Cops in Boerum Hill arrested a man for stealing a woman’s wallet at a Smith Street donut shop on Dec. 16 — but later discovered that he was an unregistered sex offender.

Police say the 39-year-old man snatched his victim’s wallet out of her purse at the donut store, which is at the corner of Bergen Street, at about 5:30 pm.

After his arrest, a records check revealed that he was a convicted sex offender who had not registered with the state as required by law, cops said.

Derring ’do

Three men disguising their faces with ’do-rags robbed an 80-year-old man of his rent money while the victim walked up the stairs of the DeKalb Avenue subway station on Dec. 13.

The daring 12:20 pm robbery netted the three thugs $750, cash that the man was supposed to deliver to his landlord.

Back turned

A thief stole a woman’s bag as she was trying on a coat at a popular Fulton Mall department store on Dec. 13.

The 42-year-old victim told police she was admiring a new winter coat at the store, which is near Hoyt Street, at about 2:30 pm. She set her bag down for just a moment, but it was long enough for the thief to strike.

Fortunately, the bag contained only $30.

Big burg

A thief made off with thousands of dollars in jewelry in electronics after breaking into three Livingston Street apartments on Dec. 12.

Cops say the thief broke into the units, which are in a building between Gallatin Place and Hoyt Street, and helped himself to a Sony digital camera from one apartment; a laptop computer, a $2,000 diamond necklace and various jewelry from another; and a Dell laptop and costume jewelry — including bamboo earrings and a nameplate necklace — from a third.

‘I’ll take it!’

A woman who tried on $7,500 in jewelry at a State Street shop on Dec. 10 loved the diamonds and gold so much that she walked out without paying.

Cops say the suspect went into the shop, which is between Bond and Nevins streets, at about 10:30 am and asked to see a diamond pendant on a white metal chain.

She put them on and then walked out.

Targeted

Beware of unusual bumps in the women’s department.

A 40-year-old Eastern Parkway resident was shopping in a big discount department store in the Atlantic Terminal Mall on Dec. 12 at around 4 pm when she felt what she later described as a “bump.”

Suspicious, she checked her bag and discovered that someone had stolen her wallet, which held $80, her driver’s license, credit card and Green Card.

Shop mishap

A thief snatched a woman’s purse from her shopping cart after she diverted her attention for just a few minutes on Dec. 10.

The 22-year-old victim told cops that she was shopping at a discount coat store at the Atlantic Center Mall at around 4 pm when she briefly left her shopping cart unattended.

Minutes later (surprise, surprise), the purse — which held $70, three credit cards, her driver’s license, a MetroCard, gift cards, and an Adelphi University ID card — was gone.

©2007 The Brooklyn Paper