60th Precinct
Coney Island—Brighton Beach—Seagate
Gunpoint theft, and bust
Police arrested a man who threatened another man with a gun before stealing his iPhone 5SE on Neptune Ave. on Sept. 13, according to a report.
The man committed the theft just after 3 am, between W. 24th and W. 25th streets. Police said he approached the victim from behind with a gun, and said, “I have a gun, keep walking.” He then led the victim to an isolated area nearby, where he stole the victim’s cell phone and rode off on a bicycle. Police arrested him the next day, at 5:15 pm at W. 8th Street, near Surf Avenue.
Beauty beast
A crook stole more than $1000 worth of beauty products from a Brighton Beach Avenue drugstore on Sept. 12.
The perp swept some of the shelves clean just after 8 pm at the store at Coney Island Avenue, throwing Dove, Garnier, and Pantene shampoos, conditioners, and styling products into a black Nike bag. Police said they are reviewing surveillance cameras in the area.
Swindler’s twist
A fast-talking con man fleeced a woman on Sept. 13 when he called her at her Brighton Seventh Street home and told her she won a federal grant and that she had to send $800 in iTunes gift cards to receive the money, investigators said.
The degenerate made the call around 4 pm to the woman, who lives between Brightwater Court and Brighton Beach Avenue. She sent the money the criminal requested and then reported the incident to police when she didn’t hear anything back within the next two days.
Phantom withdrawal
A miscreant withdrew $200 from a man’s bank account at an ATM on Neptune Avenue on Sept. 13 without ever stealing the man’s card, according to police.
The thief used a fraudulent ATM card to withdraw the money from the machine just before 11 am near W. Fifth Street, according to police. The victim said he has no idea who ripped him off, and that he only became aware of the withdrawal when his bank notified him of it before they closed out his card and issued him a new one.
— Julianne McShane
