88th Precinct
Fort Greene–Clinton Hill
Tune-up
A menacing mechanic robbed a man who he offered to help after a crash on S. Oxford Street on March 5, cops said.
The victim said he smashed up his ride between Atlantic Avenue and Hanson Place at 10:55 pm. After the accident, the fiend approached and asked if he needed an auto-body shop to repair his car, according to a report.
The not-so-good Samaritan slipped into the passenger seat while talking to the victim, then pulled out a black gun, officers said. The menace demanded the man’s valuables, grabbed his wallet, Burberry scarf, and headphones, then walked off towards Fulton Street, cops said.
Gamergate
A burglar busted into a Waverly Avenue apartment on March 6, and stole a video-game system and a laptop, according to the authorities.
The victim said he left the building between Myrtle and Park avenues at 9 am, and did not return until 9 pm. When he arrived, he noticed his front door damaged and his electronics were missing, law enforcement officials said.
Lotto looting
Some no-goodniks stole a bunch of lottery tickets from a Flatbush Avenue pharmacy on March 7, police said.
Officers responded to a call about the store between Lafayette Avenue and Fulton Street at 5:30 am, and when they arrived the glass front door was smashed, the security gate had been pried open, and lottery tickets were scattered across the floor, according to officers.
The owner arrived and told cops that 10 books of scratch-offs were taken, worth a total of $5,000.
Heist
Cops cuffed a man who they say stole $20,000 from a Kent Avenue armored car service sometime between Oct. 23 and Nov. 17, according to a police report.
Employees of the company between Keap and Hooper streets said the suspect stole the cash sometime between 5 pm on Oct. 23 and 9 am on Nov. 17, while he was working for them.
They reported the theft March 3, and police arrested the accused the same day.
Cereal stealer
Someone stole $2,500 that a woman had stashed in a cereal box inside of a refrigerator in her room at a Carlton Avenue homeless shelter, on March 3 or 4, NYPD officials said.
The victim said she last saw the cash in the shelter between Park and Myrtle avenues at 2 pm on March 3. She went to retrieve some money to go shopping at 1:30 pm the next day, and it was gone, a report says.
She said some of her friends at the shelter knew she had the money, and that they could come and go from her room as they pleased, per cops.
Grand thefts auto
Drivers had a hard time holding onto their cars in the precinct this week. Three were reported stolen, according to police. Here’s the rundown:
• Someone took a Ford Explorer from Vanderbilt Avenue on March 3, the authorities said.
The owner said she went to pick up her sports utility vehicle from its parking space between Greene and Gates avenues at 8:15 am, but it was already gone.
• The next day a thief made off with a Plymouth Voyager that the owner had left on Clifton Place, officers said.
The victim said he parked his mini-van between Grand and Classon avenues at 2 am, and when he went to get it at 9:30 am, it was gone.
• A menace also drove off with a Mercury Mariner from Waverly Avenue on March 8, according to officials.
The owner said she left it between Greene and Gates avenues at 12:15 pm, and went to get it an hour later, but it was gone. She also reported the car had been taken from her on Nov. 29, and that officers recovered it in Crown Heights on Jan. 15, but that the ignition key was never found.
— Matthew Perlman
