34 hours

Police arrested a revolver-toting 16-year-old hoodlum accused of three muggings last week and possibly a suspect in two other remarkably similar robberies in Fort Greene over the span of 34 crime-filled hours.

The first incident that led to an arrest took place just after midnight on Feb. 24 at the corner of Willoughby Avenue and Washington Park. The teenage hoodlum allegedly sneaked behind a woman and said, “Give me your cellphone. I have a gun.” The victim didn’t hand over her mobile, but she surrendered an iPod.

The second charge against the 16-year-old stemmed from an attempted mugging at the same location at 8 pm on Feb. 24. The thug sneaked behind a woman, 30, and brandished a gun. But his endeavor failed when the woman screamed “No!” causing the problem child to flee.

The teen was arrested following an incident at 9:56 am on Feb. 25. He tapped a 26-year-old woman on the shoulder outside the entrance to the G train at Lafayette and Washington avenues, and said, “Miss, give me your iPod.” The woman reported losing not just the iPod, but also her purse, containing her cellphone, $40 and various credit cards.

Two other muggings took place during the same time span, but did not lead to charges against the rampaging teen.

A 20-year-old man reported being robbed by a man with a revolver at the corner of Greene Avenue and Fulton Street at 12:50 am on Feb. 24. In this case, the crook crept behind the victim, displayed the firearm and said, “Yo, yo, give me your money.” The thief stole $125 from the hapless civilian.

Minutes later, a 21-year-old woman near the corner of Ft. Greene Place and DeKalb Avenue said a man with a gun warned, “Don’t scream or I’ll shoot you.” He stole her purse, school books, a pair of leather boots and a black dress from the college coed.

Mean streets

A man mugged a woman who asked him for directions on the corner of Fulton Street and S. Portland Avenue on Feb. 24.

The victim, 27, said she was shoved against a wall by the less-than-helpful thug at 9:40 am outside the subway entrance. The scoundrel allegedly stole her cellphone, $100, a pair of earrings and her Sony Walkman, an ancestor of the iPod.

Gaping burg

Burglars looted a St. James Place apartment between Feb. 18 and 24, leaving behind oral evidence.

The 62-year-old resident reported finding a floss pick and several tooth picks in his upended apartment, between Fulton Street and Gates Avenue. In addition to the dental debris, which may have enabled the prowlers to break the lock on the front door, the victim told police that his computer, four bottles of liquor, two leather coats and Sony speakers were stolen.

Rise and crime

A woman, roused from sleep by an intruder inside her St. Felix Street apartment on Feb. 25, was alert enough to wrestle her laptop back from the early morning visitor.

The 22-year-old woke at 7:10 am to find a strange man holding her laptop and Bose docking system inside her home between DeKalb Avenue and Fulton Street.

The burglar tried to smooth things over with the implausible explanation: “I’m just making repairs. I have to install something.”

The woman screamed, and the thief dropped the booty and fled.

But moments later, he re-entered and nicked the computer. This time, the woman chased him into the hallway and pried it from his thieving arms. She did, however, report losing her iPod in the melee.

Flat wrong

A bandit broke into a Cumberland Avenue on Feb. 25 and stole a flat-screen television.

The resident told cops that he was not home from noon until 4 pm. When he returned to his crib near the corner of Lafayette Avenue, he saw that his door had been damaged and that his idiot box was gone.

Sub-tracted

A thief broke through the roof of a Flatbush Avenue sandwich shop and pillaged the cash register overnight on Feb. 25.

The chain restaurant, which is between Fulton Street and Lafayette Avenue and is closed between 10 pm and 8 am, reported losing $700 from the till.

©2009 Community Newspaper Group