Hero cop
The precinct’s top cop busted a group of thugs who snatched a poor kid’s cellphone on Fourth Street on March 29.
A group of teenage bullies swiped a 14-year-old’s Blackberry cellphone near Fifth Avenue, then fled. Deputy Inspector John Argenziano was later patrolling a few blocks away at 6 pm, when he spotted a teen in striped jacket, who matched the description of one of the bullies, hanging out in a group.
The zealous officer then brought the victim to the scene to confirm the teen in the jacket — and some of his friends — were the jerks who jacked the phone. Four of them were arrested.
Style police
A gun-toting jerk snatched some expensive jewelry from clothing shop on Flatbush Avenue on March 25.
A worker told cops he was doing inventory at Vinnies Styles, which sells hip-hop duds near Bergen Street, at around 11 am, when a man walked into the store and flashed a silver handgun. “Give me everything,” he shouted before swiping $9,000 worth of white metal studs, a $4,000 yellow chain and the clerk’s cellphone.
The crook then jumped into a Mercedes Benz — with Georgia license plates — and sped off.
The boutique is one block from the 78th Precinct stationhouse.
UnAmerican
A crook jacked a bunch of cash from a trendy clothing store on Flatbush Avenue on March 27.
An employee told cops he was inside American Apparel near Park Place, at 9:15 am, when he got a call from a man claiming he was cleaning guy who needed to make a delivery. The crook-in-disguise walked into the store holding a cardboard box, set it down and pulled out a silver revolver.
“Take me to the office,” he demanded, while pointing the gun at the worker. The employee emptied a safe, full of $730, into the box before the thug ran out the back door.
Salon snoop
A sneaky fellow broke into a beauty salon on Seventh Avenue but took nothing on March 27.
The victim told cops a man destroyed the lock on the front gate of Elan Salon, near Garfield Place, at around 4:45 am. Cameras then show the man rifling drawers at the front of the store — but something must have spooked him because he scampered away empty-handed.
Lock picker
A lock-picking thief snatched a wallet from a man at a gym on 15th Street on March 27.
The 40-year-old victim told cops he locked his wallet inside a locker at Harbor Fitness, near Fifth Avenue, at around 6:15 pm, then went for a sweaty workout. He came back an hour later an found the locker door flung open — with no wallet in sight.
— Natalie O’Neill
