The thief promised he meant no harm, but just needed enough money to buy drugs so he could stop the pain of withdrawal.
“Don’t worry, I’m not going to hurt you,” he said as he grabbed a 33-year-old woman on the corner of Orange and Henry streets, around 9 pm on April 16. “I just need something. I’m dope sick.”
The woman handed over $40 and the addict shuffled off. She described him as a white Hispanic man, age 22, with a goatee, 6-foot-2 and 180-pounds, in a grey windbreaker, blue jeans, and a black hat. But she was not able to find him in the police’s photo books.
Gunman strikes
A man who may have had a gun followed a woman into her Willow Street apartment and robbed her at 11:30 am on April 16, police said.
The stranger followed the woman into her building, between Cranberry and Orange streets, trailed her upstairs and, when she started to enter her unit, told her he knew someone who lived there. She told him that’s impossible, since she lives alone.
“Just give me $20,” the thief then insisted. When she turned over the cash, the perp started to walk away, only to return and snatch her pocketbook, too.
“I’ll shoot you,” he said as he ran off.
The woman lost $50, various credit cards and her driver’s license. She described the robber as a 5-foot-9, 180-pound black man, with a goatee, a gray jacket, sweatpants and a black cap.
Ungrand hotel
Someone stole a laptop from a room at the Marriott Hotel on Adams Street on April 18, police said.
The victim, a 46-year-old South Carolina man, had left for the city around 10 am. When he returned around 10:30 pm, he found that someone had broken in and removed his Compaq laptop.
Other guests were interviewed, but the device — and the thief — have not been found.
Kathleen Duffy, a Marriott spokeswoman, said the hotel investigated his claim by interviewing staff and checking the electronic door key for other entries. None were found, so managers referred the case to the corporate office in Maryland.
“They run an extremely tight ship there,” Duffy said, noting the hotel had won top awards in the chain for several years.
Fake cop
A 16-year-old lost his phone to a man who claimed to be a cop who needed to make a call on April 20, police said.
The teen was walking home around 5:30 pm when the impersonator stopped him on the corner of Bergen and Hoyt streets. The man asked to use his phone, and the “officer” made several personal calls before running off with the Motorola Razr.
Eagle eye rob
A thief snatched the eyeglasses off a 63-year-old woman on Atlantic Avenue, but she got a good look at the robber anyway.
Police said the man ran up behind his elderly victim as she neared Hoyt Street, around 9:30 am on April 11. She described him to police as a black man, 6-foot-1 and 200 pounds, wearing a beige overcoat, white sneakers, a gray military cap and blue jewelry.
Toothless crime
A man pretending to ask for the time actually robbed a woman of her bag full of personal possessions — including a $1,600 set of dentures.
The thief stopped the woman around noon on April 20 on Livingston Street, near Smith Street. He asked for the time then grabbed her watch and purse. The bag held no money, but it did have her wallet, glasses, makeup and dentistry.
Unholy heist
The thief clearly didn’t come for redemption.
Someone stole a purse an early learning center at a Monroe Street church on April 18. The 29-year-old victim left her handbag inside the school office, off Pierrepont Street, at 8 am. When she returned two hours later, the $150 purse, with a new cellphone, credit cards, her paycheck and $5 inside, had disappeared.
Cars clipped
At least two cars were reported stolen in the Brooklyn Heights area last week, including one that disappeared from a Love Lane garage.
Sometime between 10 pm on April 14 and 10:30 am on April 17, a woman’s Toyota SUV went missing from the garage on Love Lane, off Willoughby Street. Her 53-year-old husband dropped it off, but when he went to find the car several days later, it was gone.
Between 7:30 pm on April 15 and 5:30 pm on April 17, a Connecticut woman lost her Jeep Liberty to thieves. The 2004 SUV was parked on the northwest corner of Hicks and Poplar streets, but disappeared without a trace.
Stealing home
Someone swiped a Yankees jacket and bag full of electronics from a bench in Tillary Park while the owner played ball nearby, police said.
The 24-year-old victim arrived at the park, on Jay and Tillary streets, around 10 pm.
She and her friends were playing ball a bit too far away from the bench where she had laid her stuff.
When she returned, nearly two hours later, her prized jacket and a bag with $530 in games, phones, watches, and bowling patches were gone.
