By Thomas TracyMeter menaces
A clever ruse took a wrong turn when two thieves posing as water meter readers decided to bust into a Marine Park home on March 24.
Cops from the 63rd Precinct were told that the two men went to the East 36th Street home near Quentin Road at 2:40 pm and knocked on the door, claiming that they were there to check the meter.
But they soon grew impatient, officials said. One of them forced open a window and crawled inside, not knowing that the 62-year-old homeowner was there.
The thief let his partner in and swiped a safe containing a number of important papers, officials said. No injuries were reported.
Cops were asking anyone with information regarding this incident to call the 63rd Precinct at (718) 258-4411. All calls will be kept confidential.
Pocket runners sought
Police are looking for two teens who robbed a 13-year-old boy in Marine Park March 23.
The victim said that he was nearing the corner of Avenue T and East 33rd Street at 2:20 pm when the two teens approached.
“Run your pockets,” the thieves demanded before making off with teen’s $20, cell phone and wallet.
Slashed during squabble
A woman received a cut above her eye during a brawl inside a Flatlands apartment last week.
The victim said that she was inside the East 55th Street home near Avenue J just after 5 pm on March 26 when a 20-year-old woman she was arguing with lunged at her with a knife.
Responding officers took the unnamed attacker into custody, charging her with assault.
Thief focuses on E 55th St.
East 55th Street between Avenues J and K became a happy hunting ground for a thief with a jewelry addiction.
Police said that two homes on the block were both raided on March 26 right around the same time.
In the first instance, someone broke into a home through a back door and made off with some jewelry.
A short time later, the second home was burglarized, although police do not know just how the thief got inside. An assortment of jewelry was also taken from the second home, they said.
Door kicker sought
A thief broke into a Flatbush Avenue home the easiest way he knew how — by kicking in the front door.
Police said that the door to the apartment near Avenue L was busted open sometime after 7 pm on March 27.
The victimized tenant said she didn’t know what was taken when she made her report, police said.
Starting young
A 12-year-old was arrested for burglarizing a Flatlands home March 24.
Officials said the youngster entered the East 57th Street home near Flatlands Avenue just before 9 am
He was reportedly caught as he exited the home with an undisclosed amount of property.
Playing the blues
After what he went through on March 28, a 48-year-old motorist could have written a sad song about his experience.
It’s a shame, then, that someone swiped a pair of guitars from his car, which he left unlocked.
The victim told police that he had exited his car in the Toys R Us parking lot on Flatbush Avenue at 2:15 pm He left the toy store a short time later to find that someone had helped himself to his guitars.
This was the second time that a motorist had their car looted thanks mostly to the fact that he had left the car unlocked.
Cops were told that a Mill Island man thought that his car was safe left unlocked near his East 65th Street home on March 24, but soon learned otherwise.
A somewhat daring devil entered the car, removing his credit cards and cell phone, police said.
Not playing ball
An assortment of baseball equipment was among the items missing from a car broken into at the Kings Plaza Mall on March 26.
The 53-year-old owner said that he left the car in the lot just after 5:40 pm When he returned, someone had already busted the passenger side window and removed the equipment, as well as $30 and a cell phone.
More Kings Plaza capers
A man lost his wallet as he shopped in Kings Plaza March 28.
Cops were told that the victim had put his wallet down on a shelf as he shopped at a store near the corner of Avenue U and Flatbush Avenue at 7:30 pm
He returned for the wallet a minute later, but someone had already taken it, as well as the $250 and credit cards inside.
Held up in Mill Island
A 55-year-old woman was held up at gunpoint as she walked through Mill Island on March 16.
The victim told police that she was on East 65th Street between Avenues T and U at 10:10 pm when an unidentified black male approached.
The thief pulled a gun and ordered her to hand over her property. He then fled with her belongings, leaving her uninjured.
This was the first of two disturbing gunpoint robberies that have taken place in and around Mill Island in a two-week span.
On March 12, two males held up a 36-year-old as he walked through a Rite Aid parking lot on Mill Avenue near Avenue U. The thieves fled with the victim’s wallet.
Detectives were investigating both incidents as this paper went to press.
Cops are asking anyone with information regarding the two incidents to call the 63rd Precinct at (718) 258-4411. All calls will be kept confidential.
Held hostage in own home
Two thieves grabbed a Bergen Beach woman outside her front door, forced her inside and handcuffed her as they tossed the place for valuables.
The woman said that she was about to step inside her home on East 72nd Street near Avenue T at 4 am March 18 when the thieves attacked.
They bound the woman and fled with $3,000, a variety of electronics and some jewelry, police said.
Help wipe out graffiti
As the ongoing war against graffiti vandalism continues, cops are now offering a $500 reward to anyone with information that can help them arrest neighborhood graffiti vandals.
The hefty reward is part of the city’s ongoing push to rid New York of graffiti, the leading quality of life complaint brought to police.
Anyone with information about graffiti vandalism in their neighborhood is urged to contact either 311 or 911.
