The unusual string of thefts of historic wrought iron gates has spread to Fort Greene and Clinton Hill after catching homeowners off guard in Crown Heights last week.
Two homes lost their sturdy front fences last week. The first happened on Cambridge Place.
The resident reported looking out his front window, between Greene and Gates avenues, at 4:30 pm and seeing that his perimeter protection was in place, but 15 minutes later, after hearing a “loud noise” his looked outside again to find that his iron gate, circa 1867, was gone.
A home on around the corner on Gates Avenue reported a similar crime happening on the night of June 19-20.
The homeowner told police that while she slept, between approximately from midnight to 6 am, someone stole the swinging metallic entrance to her front yard, which is between Cambridge and St. James places.
Bank robbery
A bandit robbed a Myrtle Avenue bank on June 26 in broad daylight and without donning any disguise.
The robber ambled up to a teller at 3 pm in the institution at the corner of Clinton Avenue and gave her a handwritten note demanding greenbacks.
The payoff? The thief netted $1,472.
Dirty tricks
A woman impersonating a prostitute robbed a man with the help of her accomplices on Carlton Avenue on June 29.
The phony hooker stopped the man between Park and Myrtle avenues and offered him sexual services at 5:10 am. The 40-year-old victim didn’t say if he reached a verbal agreement with the seductress, but while he was talking to her, two men crossed the street and restrained him.
The closest the john came to any action was when the lady of the night reached into his pocket and took his wallet, which allegedly contained $300.
Cash only
A burglar broke into a popular DeKalb Avenue restaurant on June 22 and stole cold hard cash.
The proprietor of the successful eatery near Carlton Avenue, told police that the establishment was closed from 12:30 am to 8 am. During that time, he said, someone broke the rear window, clambered inside and took $100.
Citizen’s arrest
A civilian captured a man who had just mugged a woman on Lafayette Avenue and held him until police arrived to make the arrest on June 24.
The 23-year-old victim told police that the suspected mugger had thrown her to the ground and taken her purse at 10:50 am.
But crime doesn’t pay. The heroic witness caught the hoodlum between Cumberland and South Oxford streets as he attempted to flee and restrained the 39-year-old until police arrived.
Pantomime
A man, simulating that he had a weapon, mugged another man on his front steps on Irving Place on June 26.
The 31-year-old victim told police he was sitting outside of his dwelling between Gates and Putnam avenues at 5:15 am, when he was approached a hoodlum who boldly asked the inhabitant for his wallet and cellphone. The victim brokered a deal of sorts with the criminal, who had gestured that he had some type of weapon, in which he surrendered his cellphone and $20, but not everything in his wallet.
Nerd alert
An inquisitive crook stole a man’s laptop, literally from his lap, in a DeKalb Avenue coffee shop on June 27.
The 26-year-old victim told police that the man who stole his computer peppered him with several queries about his Mac before snatching the machine at 1:40 pm and fleeing the café between Carlton Avenue and Cumberland Street.
The man, surprised that it was no longer atop his lap, chased the hooligan down DeKalb Avenue and north on Washington Avenue, but couldn’t catch his tormentor.
Hate crime
A white man attacked a black teenager — verbally and then physically — on Greene Avenue on June 19.
The 15-year-old victim said the attacker struck him several times on the arm with a metal pipe and hurled racial epithets at 10:30 pm, between Clermont and Vanderbilt avenues.
The teenager was treated at a clinic on Montague Street and then released.
Car-jack
Two men hijacked a car that was idling on Cumberland Street on June 29 and also robbed the driver and passenger.
The victims told police they were sitting in a Nissan Altima, between DeKalb and Lafayette avenues, while they talked with a friend who was standing on the sidewalk at 1:25 am.
The two thieves interrupted the friendly chat by revealing a black handgun and ordering the driver and passenger to “Get out of the vehicle and give me everything.”
The car was recovered a couple of blocks away on Greene Avenue, but the stolen iPhone, designer wallets, watches and diamond earrings were not found.
