Chain pain

Cops nabbed a vicious middle-aged thug who lacerated a 17-year-old girl when he yanked her necklaces during an Oct. 17 robbery.

The thief jerked the yellow metal chains from his victim’s neck at the corner of Grand Street and Manhattan Avenue at around 2:40 pm — but police arrested a 52-year-old suspect later that day.

Sleaze frame

A thief snatched pricy cameras and lenses from the back of a photographer’s SUV on Scholes Street on Oct. 18.

The crook got into the unlocked truck — which was parked between Graham Avenue and Humboldt Street — between 8 pm and 8:20 pm and snatched three professional cameras, five Canon lenses and a MacBook laptop, all valued at more than $14,500.

Gunplay

Two crooks used a gun — and the old “What time is it” ploy — to convince a 14-year-old boy to fork over his cellphone and Playstation device on Oct. 18.

The thugs confronted the victim at the corner of Graham Avenue and Ten Eyck Walk at around 1 pm.

“What time is it?” one of the thugs asked.

When the victim responded, the crooks grabbed his arms, revealed a black handgun, and snatched his cellphone and Sony PSP from his pockets.

Lofty crime

Thieves jacked an Apple laptop from a popular McKibben Street loft building on Oct. 17.

The goons grabbed the MacBook between 8:30 am and 8 pm, while the 22-year-old victim — and her three roommates — were out of the building, which is between Seigel Court and White Street.

Out of Town

Thieves went to town on Lincoln Towncars on Oct. 19, breaking into at least two of the timeless sedans. Here are the details:

• Thieves stole a Towncar parked on South Second Street between Beford and Driggs avenues between 8 am and noon. The crooks shattered a window, hotwired the car and made off with a surveillance camera, Garmin GPS, and Motorola CB radio.

• Just two blocks away, crooks stole a radio transmitter and a video camera from a cab that had been parked at Roebling and South Second streets between 6 am and 5 pm.

Bad disguise

Cops nabbed a purple-hatted perp suspected of trying to break into a Wallabout Street apartment on Oct. 18.

Witnesses spotted the violet violator trying to break into the home — which is between Harrison and Throop avenues — through a basement door at around 10:30 pm.

Police apprehended a 17-year-old suspect.

ID theft

Crooks stole a retired cop’s IDs when he left his jacket unattended at a Wallabout Street beer distributor on Oct. 18.

The thieves pilfered the jacket between 3 pm and 4:50 pm, and snatched the victim’s NYPD ID card, gun license, car and motorcycle licenses, and credit cards before fleeing the shop, which is between Lorimer and Leonard streets.

— Ben Muessig

©2008 Community Newspaper Group