Robbed of chain
A 67-year-old woman had a gold chin ripped from her neck as she walked past the corner of Smith Street and 2nd Place last week, police said.
The woman said that she was nearing the corner at 5:50 p.m. on May 15 when an unidentified black male snagged her chain when he ran by.
The thief, who was wearing a black T-shirt and black sneakers, yanked the chain off of her neck and kept going, officials said.
Police were told that the woman had a $7,000 diamond pendant hanging from the chain when it was taken.
Cops are asking anyone with information regarding this incident to come forward.
Calls can be made to the 76th Precinct at (718) 439-4211. All calls will be kept confidential.
Struggle over bag
A 22-year-old woman lost her bag during a struggle with a thief on Henry Street, officials said.
Police were told that the woman was walking between West 9th and Huntington streets on her way to a friend’s house at 3 a.m. on May 12 when a 5’9” black male sporting a black baseball hat and ski jacket stopped her.
The thief tried to take the woman’s bag, but the victim wouldn’t let it go, officials said.
The two fought, with the thief ultimately shoving the young woman to the ground and running off with her bag, which contained about $20 in cash and several credit cards.
No injuries were reported.
Choked and robbed
A 55-year-old man told police that he was put in a chokehold and robbed of his property on Baltic Street between Hoyt and Bond streets.
Police said that the victim was walking down Baltic Street at 1:40 a.m. on May 14 when two black males grabbed him by the neck.
One of the thieves choked the victim while the second thief robbed him of his cash, rings and Sprint cell phone.
The thieves were last seen running toward the Gowanus Houses, officials said.
Left in the cold
A 17-year-old Hoyt Street man was arrested for swiping a commercial freezer from a Citgo gas station at 169 Third Avenue.
Officials said that Oscar Carcedo and another man took the freezer and stuffed it into the back of a green van at about 11:20 a.m. on May 14.
Carcedo was apprehended several hours later when he was pulled over in the van – which had a defective brake light – on Ninth Street, and was connected to the Citgo theft.
Cops charged Carcedo with grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property.
Pursuing all angles
Police are leaving no stone unturned in their investigation into the murder of Richard Russo, who was found gunned down in his Baltic Street apartment building a week shy of his 31st birthday.
Cops were called to the apartment building, which is located in the Gowanus Houses, just before 2:30 p.m. on May 9, after a tenant found Russo dead in the elevator. He had been shot once in the head, officials said.
Vertical patrols were conducted in the buildings that make up the Gowanus Houses, but no suspects had been found.
Investigators said that besides questioning his friends and family members, they’re asking any potential witnesses to the killing to come forward.
Officials said that Russo was released from prison back in 2004 after serving nine years for a Halloween night murder he committed in 1993.
Police said that Russo gunned down 19-year-old Joseph Molina on Columbia Street near Kane Street. Investigators arrested Russo the following February and charged him with murder.
Prosecutors said that Russo pleaded guilty to manslaughter back in October 1994 and was given a five- to 15-year prison sentence, officials said.
But Russo didn’t steer too far away from his criminal past upon his release.
Cops said that he had been jailed again in the four years following his release for assaults and other charges.
Cops are asking anyone with information regarding Russo’s killing to come forward.
Calls can be made to either the 76th Precinct Detective Squad at (718) 834-3221 or the NYPD CrimeStoppers hotline at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.
Lady bruisers sought
Three teenage girls are being sought for assaulting another woman at the corner of Warren and Hoyt streets, officials said this week.
The woman, who is in her early 20s, said that she was talking to her friend at the corner at 9:30 p.m. on May 3 when the three girls attacked, striking her with both a glass bottle and a cane.
Police said that the victim sustained some cuts and scrapes, but was otherwise not seriously injured.
The girls parted, but not before they said that they would be “waiting to jump her” at the area train station.
Cops are asking anyone with information regarding this attack to come forward.
Calls can be made to the 76th Precinct at (718) 834-3211. All calls will be kept confidential.
Bike taken
Thieves broke into a Fourth Avenue apartment building last week, taking a $100 Schwinn bike, officials said.
Police said that someone forced open two doors to get into the building located near Sixth Street sometime between 5:30 and 6:30 a.m. on May 5.
Once inside, the thief took the bike and sped off.
Cops were asking anyone with information regarding this theft to come forward.
Calls can be made to the 78th Precinct at (718) 636-6411. All calls will be kept confidential.
Help wipe out graffiti
As the ongoing war against graffiti vandals continues, cops are offering up to $500 in reward money to anyone who can lead them to producers of graffiti vandalism.
The hefty reward is part of the city’s ongoing push to rid New York of graffiti vandals.
Graffiti is one of the leading quality-of-life complaints brought to the NYPD.
The police believe there is a perception that if a community will tolerate graffiti, they will put up with other criminal activities, such as drug dealing and prostitution.
Anyone with information about graffiti vandalism is urged to contact either 311 or 911.
Teen thieves busted
Two 14-year-olds were apprehended after robbing another teen at the corner of Plaza Street West and Berkeley Place, cops from the 78th Precinct said.
The victim told police that he was walking down Berkeley Place at 10:15 p.m. on May 16 when three males followed him, demanding that he give up his stuff.
One of the thieves asked if he could see his iPod, cops were told. When the victim said that he didn’t have an iPod, one of the thieves punched him in the face and hit him in the back of the head.
Cops said that the thieves robbed him of a Razr cell phone, an iPod and $5 in cash before running off.
Responding officers tracked down and arrested two of the thieves, charging them with robbery.
Grab and run
She was listening to music one minute and the sound of silence the next.
A 21-year-old area woman said that two fast-footed thieves made off with her iPod as she approached Eighth Avenue from Union Street last week.
Cops were told that the unidentified males ran by her at 10:45 a.m. on May 17, ripped the iPod from her person and ran off.
The victim chased the thieves back onto Prospect Park West, where she lost them, police said.
No injuries were reported.
Cops are asking anyone with information regarding this incident to come forward.
Calls can be made to the 78th Precinct at (718) 636-6411. All calls will be kept confidential.
Getting book-wormed
An eager reader told police that someone made off with her wallet as she perused the aisles of the Park Slope Barnes & Noble.
The victim, 37, said that she had just exited the store, located at the corner of Seventh Avenue and Seventh Street, at 9:15 p.m. on May 14 when she realized that someone had been in her bag.
She claimed that she never felt anyone push or jostle the bag when it was pilfered, police said.
Police said that her credit cards were in the wallet when it was taken.
Credit conundrum
A 28-year-old Fifth Avenue man told police last week that someone had used his information to open up a Discover credit card, which was then used to make over $1,300 worth of purchases.
The victim, who lives near Ninth Street, was told that the credit card was opened in his name sometime between April 20 and May 13, when he received a phone call by Discover telling him that the card had been used for a number of purchases.
Cops were investigating the incident as this paper went to press.
Car raid
Thieves broke into a 52-year-old woman’s car, taking $500 in cash, a cell phone, a GPS device, credit cards and some paperwork.
The woman said that she parked and locked her car at the corner of Eastern Parkway and Flatbush Avenue at 6 p.m. on May 10.
She returned to her car a few hours later only to find it ransacked.
Police said that no signs of forced entry were found, although the car’s owner said that she locked the vehicle when she left it.
Locker loot
A sticky-fingered thief ran off with a 44-year-old woman’s purse as she built up a sweat at a gym on Flatbush Avenue near Carlton Avenue.
The woman told police that she left her purse, which contained several credit cards and about $200 in cash, inside a locker in the women’s locker room at about 10:45 a.m. on May 13.
About 45 minutes she returned to the locker room only to find out that someone had already helped themselves to it.
Cops were looking into the woman’s claims as this paper went to press.
Left in the cold
A 17-year-old Hoyt Street man was arrested for swiping a commercial freezer from a Citgo gas station at 169 Third Avenue.
Officials said that Oscar Carcedo and another man took the freezer and stuffed it into the back of a green van at about 11:20 a.m. on May 14.
Carcedo was apprehended several hours later when he was pulled over in the van – which had a defective brake light – on Ninth Street, and was connected to the Citgo theft.
Cops charged Carcedo with grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property.
Robbed in park
A group of thugs surrounded, beat and robbed a couple on a late night stroll through Prospect Park last week, officials said.
Cops from the 78th Precinct said that they were called to the park near Garfield Place at 11:20 p.m. on May 10, where the victims — one of whom was bleeding from the head — met them.
The couple said they were walking through the park when they found themselves surrounded by an unknown group of males.
The thieves clubbed the male victim with a heavy object, robbed the two of their property and ran off.
Paramedics took the male victim to New York Methodist Hospital, where he needed several stitches to close the head wound he received.
The female victim was not harmed.
Cops are asking anyone with information regarding this incident to come forward.
Calls can be made to the 78th Precinct at (718) 636-6411. All calls will be kept confidential.
Criminal fares
Police are investigating a 23-year-old man’s report that his cab driver robbed him when he quibbled over the price of the fare.
The victim said that he was being dropped off at the corner of Fourth Avenue and Degraw Street at 11:30 a.m. on May 6 when he questioned the fare.
In response, the cabbie struck him in the face, took his cell phone and sped off.
Cops were still looking for the cabbie as this paper went to press.
Wipe out graffiti
As the ongoing war against graffiti continues, a $500 reward is being offered to anyone with information about graffiti vandals in their neighborhoods.
The hefty reward is part of the city’s new push to rid New York of graffiti vandals.
Graffiti is one of the leading quality of life complaints brought to police.
Anyone with information about graffiti vandalism is urged to contact either 311 or 911.
