June 10, 2009 / News / Police Blotter / Park Slope

Watch your stuff

By Gersh Kuntzman

for The Brooklyn Paper

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Eye bawls

Three Park Slopers learned the important lesson of always keeping an eye on your valuables last week when all three had wallets stolen when they were just a few feet away.

The first crime took place on May 31 inside of the Crunch gym on Flatbush Avenue between Park and Sterling places. A 53-year-old man told cops that he had been using the leg press machine at around 7:45 pm and placed his fanny pack — yes, his fanny pack — on the floor.

When he returned with a slightly tighter fanny just a few minutes later, he discovered that the fanny pack was gone — along with the MetroCard, house keys, $10 bill and wallet it contained.

A few hours later, a 37-year-old woman told cops that she had her purse stolen off the back of a chair at a popular Mexican restaurant on Seventh Avenue between Berkeley Place and Union Street. The thief got the wallet, which contained $85, plus a cellphone and various cards.

Six days later, the notorious Pathmark at the corner of Second Avenue and 12th Street was the scene of a similar crime when a 35-year-old woman left her purse on top of her shopping cart at around 9 pm. A quick-fingered thief grabbed it, and got away with a cellphone, $60 and credit cards.

And the capper to this larcenous week is the story of gthe Carroll Street woman who left her wallet on the top of her stoop when she went to talk to a neighbor at around noon on June 7. She lost $100 and a fancy fountain pen from the stoop, which is between Fifth and Sixth avenues.

Simple break-in

A thief broke into a St. Marks Place apartment on June 2, getting away a computer and other equipment, cops said.

The 31-year-old tenant of the unit, which is between Fourth and Fifth avenues, told cops that he was not home between 8:45 am and 6 pm — given a thief more than enough time to sneak in through the back window and steal the high-tech gadgets.

Dog tied

If only the dog hadn’t been locked in the bedroom, perhaps a thief might not have gotten away with more than $4,000 in jewelry from a Fifth Avenue apartment on June 3.

The owner of the baubles told cops that she was not in the apartment, which is between 11th and 12th streets, from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm.

During that time, the thief broke in, though it is unclear how he gained entrance. What is clear is that the potentially heroic dog could not play out a Hollywood scenario because he was locked upstairs.

The thief got gold and diamond trinkets.

Rim job

A Honda owner returned to his vehicle on June 4 to find it standing on cinder blocks and all four wheels missing — a nifty theft of $1,400 in rubber and steel.

The 55-year-old car owner told cops that he had left the Honda Fit on the block between Fifth and Sixth avenues at around 7 pm the night before.

More car stuff

And, this being Park Slope, crimes against car owners were once again a big part of police work last week:

• On June 1, a woman returned to her Honda Accord to find that its trunk had been pilfered and a computer and other items were missing. She told cops that she had parked the car on Degraw Street between Fourth and Fifth avenues at 11 pm the night before.

• On June 7, a man discovered that his Acura had been stolen from the corner of Sixth Street and Eighth Avenue. He told cops that he’d parked the 2003 model at around 10 pm the night before.

• A car thief got that most sought-after of vehicles — a 1995 Honda Civic — from Prospect Park West and President Street on June 7. Cops said that the owner parked the economy car — which, despite its age, regularly shows up in these pages because of how easy it is to soup up, cops say — at around 4:30 pm and returned two hours later.

©2009 Community Newspaper Group

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