May 10, 2008: Vol. 31, No. 19

Thugs roughed up a deliveryman on May 4, punching him in the face and stealing his cellphone.

After bringing food to an apartment on Manhattan Avenue between Moore and Seigel streets, a teenage crook jumped the 51-year-old victim at around 3:25 pm, cops say. The crook, with the backing of several friends, slugged the deliveryman in the face until he forked over the mobile.

Shoe jacking

A vicious crook put a knife to a Manhattan Avenue man’s throat at around 1 am, forcing his victim to fork over more than $2,000 of valuables — including his Nikes.

The thug grabbed the victim from behind at the corner of Meserole Street and Graham Avenue, brandishing the blade.

“Give me your s—,” the mugger said.

The victim obliged, handing over his green Nike high-tops, his clothing, a sleeping bag, a wallet, credit cards, a passport, IDs, a cellphone, an iPod and $300.

Robber nabbed

Cops arrested a mugger after he slugged a Havemeyer Street man in the face on May 3.

The thug approached his 24-year-old victim on South Third Street between Roebling and Havemeyer streets at around 1:50 am, punching the man in the face and leaving him bleeding.

But the victim didn’t turn over his belongings, and the crook fled. Cops gave chase, apprehending a 20-year-old suspect despite his attempts to evade arrest by grabbing at their handcuffs.

Sidekicked

Williamsburg thieves love Sidekick cellphones, with crooks targeting the owners of the flashy phones at least twice this week. Here are the grisly details:

• A two-wheeled crook snatched a Sidekick cellphone from a woman’s hand on April 30 while he pedaled past her on his bicycle.

The thief was chatting on her phone on the corner of Manhattan Avenue and Broadway at around 6:45 pm when the cycling thug grabbed the fancy phone from her grasp.

• A crook snatched a Sidekick from a 14-year-old girl’s lap as she did her laundry on May 3. The thief grabbed the $350 cellphone at around 1:50 pm and fled from the Laundromat, which is on Graham Avenue between Boerum Street and Johnson Avenue.

Botched burg

Cops locked up a would-be crook who tried to break into a Throop Avenue glass store on May 2, but gave up when the door was locked.

Witnesses watched the crook raise the shop’s security gate at around 4:30 am, but the shop’s locked door proved too much of a challenge. After yanking several times on the door of the store — which is between Walton and Wallabout streets — the thug quit.

Cops didn’t give up as easily, apprehending a 26-year-old suspect at the scene.

Purse curse

Two cold-hearted crooks grabbed a 66-year-old woman’s purse on May 2.

The thugs struck at around 10:30 am, knocking their victim to the ground and snatching her bag on the corner of Graham Avenue and Debevoise Street.

Teacher’s pest

A teenaged crook snatched an instructor’s purse from the teacher’s lounge of a Grand Street public school on May 1.

The underaged thug grabbed the purse while the victim looked away, fleeing from the Enterprise High School of Business and Technology, which is between Bushwick Avenue and Waterbury Street, with the purse, which contained a phone, IDs, keys and credit cards.

©2008 The Brooklyn Paper