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

The apartment of an elderly Cropsey Avenue couple was robbed of cash and jewelry while they were away on Dec. 28.

The 70-year-old husband left with his wife at around 3:30 pm and returned to their apartment, which is near Bay 38th Street, at around 9:50 pm, to find a ransacked apartment.

During the six-hour span, the thieves broke in, thrashed their bedroom, and robbed $5,000, along with their jewelry, police said.

Video rob

A video store on 20th Avenue was robbed by thugs who smashed open the front glass door on Dec. 24.

The store, which is near 84th Street, was broken into at around 10:15 pm, moments after the owner left for the evening. The thieves broke through the glass door, stealing $2,000 and fleeing. They left the video collection untouched, police said.

The European-themed video store had no video surveillance installed, allowing the thugs a clean get away.

Smoked out

A Bath Avenue bodega had its cash register stolen by thug, who was later caught by police, thanks to the description given by store owner.

The thief entered the grocery store, which is near Bay 29th Street, at around 2 am on Dec. 21 and asked for cigarettes.

When the owner turned around to find the smokes, the thug snatched the register, which contained $900, and fled the store, police said.

The perp and his getaway driver were later caught by police with the cash register still on them, cops said.

Mini-mart rob

A man was robbed by gang of thugs as he was shopping in a New Utrecht Avenue bodega on Dec. 21.

The 18-year-old was in the store, which is near 78th Street, at around 8:50 pm when the group pushed him to the back of the store and forced him to empty his pockets. The thieves ran off with his leather wallet, which contained $100, and his ID, police said.

Parking melee

A woman had her purse snatched and was pushed to the ground as she was walking on West Sixth Street on Dec. 20.

The 25-year-old was near Avenue O at around 3:10 am when the perp approached. As soon as he grabbed the purse, which contained $150, credit and debit cards, the victim ran off in hot pursuit of her thief, police said.

But her efforts fell short. The perp pushed his victim to the ground, then fled in the getaway car.

Toys ‘R’ robbery

A woman had her purse snatched as she was doing some Christmas shopping in a Bay Parkway toy store on Dec. 20.

The 33-year-old was in the store, which is near Cropsey Avenue, at around 8 pm. She left her purse on the shopping cart as she browsed the aisle, but when she returned, her bag was gone. The thief had run off with the pocketbook, which contained an unknown amount of cash, along with her credit and debit cards, police said.

©2008 The Brooklyn Paper