January 12, 2008: Vol. 31, No. 2

It was a bad week for 12-year-old boys in Fort Greene and Clinton Hill. In two separate incidents on Jan. 3, two 12-year-old boys were robbed at gunpoint.

In the first incident, at 4 pm, a 12-year-old boy was at the corner of DeKalb Avenue and Adelphi Street when three older boys surrounded him, take out a gun, and swipe his $170 Playstation before fleeing north on Adelphi Street.

Fifteen minutes later, and just three blocks away, another 12-year-old boy was mugged at gunpoint near his home on Clinton Avenue, between Willoughby and DeKalb avenues.

Two older boys came up behind the victim, showed off the gun and asked, “How old are you?” before instructing him to empty his pockets.

The boy complied, handing over his $150 cellphone. The muggers fled south on Clinton Avenue toward DeKalb Avenue.

IDs stolen

Twelve-year-old boys weren’t the only victims this week in Fort Greene and Clinton Hill. Both a 29-year-old woman and a 59-year-old woman discovered this fine New Year that someone had stolen their identities.

In the first instance, a young South Oxford Street resident told cops on Jan. 2 that someone had tapped into her bank account four times to pay off a $10,000 Chase credit card balance.

Unfortunately for both the victim and perpetrator, the transaction could not be completed, due to insufficient funds.

The next day, a 59-year-old Lafayette Avenue resident told cops that someone had opened a cellphone account in her name without her permission. Even worse, she discovered that a judgment had been made in Kings County court against the person posing in her name, for failing to pay $1,303.56 on that same account.

©2008 The Brooklyn Paper