January 5, 2008: Vol. 31, No. 1

The Comfort Inn near the Gowanus Canal was broken into on Dec. 26 — and the thief stole some atypical goods.

At around 5 pm, an employee of the hotel, which is on Butler Street between Third Avenue and Nevins Street, noticed that two cases of bottled water, linens and a hand truck, worth $650 total, had been stolen from one of the hotel’s upper floors.

The perpetrator had apparently forced his way into the building through a side entrance, which had been damaged.

Left panting

Ten pairs of pants walked out of a clothing store on President Street on two legs on Dec. 24.

A group of five men in their teens or early 20s entered the boutique, which is between Fifth and Sixth avenues, around 12:45 pm on Christmas Eve. While one of the young men distracted the clerk, another shoveled 10 pairs of pants, each worth $200, into a plastic bag. The worker caught a glimpse of this, but the shoplifter fled the store before the grand larceny could be stopped.

Auto holdup

Three employees of a Fourth Avenue auto shop were robbed at gunpoint on Dec. 27.

A man entered the store, near Ninth Street, at 8:30 am, brandishing a firearm and demanding to know “Where is the money?”

He stole the personal valuables of the two employees and one manager, and took the cash from the store’s safe, pilfering more than $2,700, plus cellphones and credit cards.

Hood watch

A group of bystanders encircled a woman who had tried to snatch a pocketbook from another lady and prevented the crook from getting away on Dec. 29.

The 56-year-old victim was approached from behind on the corner of Lincoln Place and Plaza Street West by the 20-year-old perpetrator, who yanked at her purse. In the ensuing struggle, the victim fell to the ground and suffered minor injuries.

After being knocked down, the victim yelled for help. Nearby people sprang into action and surrounded the culprit until police made the arrest.

Come right in

An open door made it easy for someone to burglarize a Lincoln Place apartment on Dec. 28.

A man left his apartment, between Seventh and Eighth avenues, for three hours, but did not close his front door, allowing the thief easy access to $400, a necklace and a fancy laptop.

Back door man

A First Street house was burglarized through an unlocked back door between Dec. 26 and Dec. 27.

A 34-year-old woman left her home with everything in place around 8 pm. When she returned the next day at 3 pm, she discovered that someone had stolen her digital camera and cellphone through the unlocked rear entrance, which is between Fourth and Fifth avenues.

Stripped down

Major pieces of the interior and exterior of a car parked on 13th Street were stolen between Dec. 24 and Dec. 26.

Sometime between 8:30 pm on Christmas Eve and 1:45 pm on Boxing Day, thieves walked away with the rear lights, rims, radio, speakers, amp, intake, car battery and even the front hood from a 21-year-old woman’s car, which had been parked between Second and Third avenues. They also took her baby stroller.

The stolen car parts and stroller were worth $2,500.

©2008 The Brooklyn Paper