Houseache
A Garfield Place building — home to the neighborhood’s upper crust — was the scene of two big-time burglaries in the same period earlier this year.
In one case, nearly $90,000 worth of sterling silver plateware and gold accessories was swiped from one unit inside the building, which is at Prospect Park West, between Feb. 7 and 9.
The victim told cops that he jetted off to Florida, leaving his apartment near Prospect Park West in the care of a houseguest. When the victim returned, he discovered the houseguest was gone — along with thousands of dollars of silver cutlery and dishes, as well as gold cufflinks, a Morvado watch, a Cartier ring and a Nikon camera.
Cops are looking at a connection between that crime and another incident, which occurred in the building between Jan. 22 and Feb. 2, when vacationing residents returned to find that a high-brow thief — perhaps the same shyster — had taken a pair of $9,000 earrings and a 24-karat gold wedding band.
Double trouble
A trickster stole nearly $5,000 from a man who shared his name on Feb. 9.
The bank manager told police that the thief entered the Chase Bank on Fifth Avenue between 13th and 14th streets at around noon and withdrew $4,800 from the bank account of a customer who had the same first and last names.
The manager later realized that the perp was not his actual customer and called the victim and the police.
Burg city
There were at least two other break-ins last week:
• A thief stole a laptop and jewelry from an apartment on Carroll Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues on Feb. 12. The victim told cops that the thief entered her home through the skylight window between 8 and 11 pm and snatched $1,000 worth of brackets, earrings, necklaces and an IBM laptop.
• A thief swiped expensive electronics from an apartment on 13th Street on Feb. 7. The victim told cops that he was not in the unit, which is between Sixth and Seventh avenues, from 7:30 to 10 pm, when he returned to find two laptops, a camera and a Blackberry were gone.
Junk jacking
An 18-year-old Ford Taurus was taken from the corner of Third Street and Fourth Avenue overnight on Feb. 6.
The victim, if you could call him that, told cops that he left the car at 8 pm, and arrived the next morning to find the green sedan gone. Cops put the value of the ancient auto at $500.
— Laura Gottesdiener
