Hold onto your wallets in Fort Greene and Clinton Hill — robberies are up more than 42 percent this month.
The spike in thefts — 20 this month compared to 14 during the same period last year — is part of a year-long trend in the 88th Precinct. For the year, robberies are up 18.3 percent.
Several robberies have been particularly vicious:
On Dec. 7, three masked suspects wielding two guns entered Choice Market on Lafayette Avenue near Grand Avenue at around 10 pm. One perp ordered the store manager to lie face down on the floor while the other removed about $1,000 from the cash register.
In other crimes, perps ripped iPods off music lovers on N. Portland Avenue and Cambridge Place in separate incidents, stole a Pratt Institute student’s laptop from a school cafeteria, and snatched four purses at stores within the troubled Atlantic Center Mall.
The spike in crime — and viciousness of some incidents — prompted Councilwoman Tish James (D–Fort Greene) to beg residents to come forward if they have any information.
“Fortunately, Choice Market employees were not hurt during the incident, but my office will help to provide any assistance needed, be it psychological or otherwise,” James added at a Tuesday night town hall meeting at Cadman Congregational Church.
