January 19, 2008 / News / Police Blotter

Special delivery

By Harry Cheadle

for The Brooklyn Paper

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A perp posing as a UPS deliveryman gained entrance to an apartment on Washington Avenue near Lafayette Avenue on Jan. 7 and attempted to force the resident to empty his bank account, but the resourceful victim escaped after losing only $4.

The 24-year-old victim was expecting a package, so when the perp identified himself as a deliveryman, he buzzed him in. At the apartment door, the crook asked for “Mike,” who was the man’s roommate. The man may have been suspicious — the “deliveryman” was wearing all black and did not, in fact, have a package — and told the perp to wait outside.

At that point, the perp decided to drop the disguise and forced his way inside, claiming to have a gun. He demanded money, and the victim handed over $4, then opened his empty wallet to demonstrate he wasn’t a good person to rob.

Undeterred, the robber noticed an ATM card and pushed the man outside so they could go to a cash machine. At the corner of Lafayette Avenue, however, the victim — perhaps wondering if this guy really had a gun — ducked into a building, and the crook decided to cut and run.

Young thieves

A woman taking money to the bank was robbed by a herd of kids on Fulton Street near Ashland Place on Jan. 11.

The 30-year-old had $430 in an envelope when she passed through a crowd of teenagers. She felt a tug on her bag, and a few moments later, she realized that her money had been stolen.

She told cops that she could not describe any of the kids, nor did she know which one of them was a juvenile pickpocket.

Coin caper

More than $5,000 in coins and an ATM machine were stolen from the back of a car on Jan. 7.

The 46-year-old victim, who makes his living collecting money from pay phones and ATM machines, parked his 2007 Chevy Tahoe at a parking lot of the shopping complex at Atlantic and Fifth avenues around noon, leaving the bags of coins and the ATM inside.

An hour later, he returned and was shocked to discover a perp had taken all 10 bags — each worth around $550 — as well as the ATM machine, which cost $700.

There was no damage to the car, and no sign of forced entry, cops said.

©2008 The Brooklyn Paper