Four strong-arm robberies committed within a few blocks of each other in just a week’s time is enough to make anybody sit up and take notice, but when they happen in sleepy Manhattan Beach the man paid to safeguard the community suits up on his day off to deliver an accounting.
Captain George Mastrokostas of the 61st Precinct walked into P.S. 195 on Irwin Street last Tuesday night to assure Manhattan Beach residents that his cops were on the case and fully prepared to protect them.
Until last week, there hadn’t been a robbery in Manhattan Beach since February, when Mastrokostas first took over the reins of the 61st Precinct from outgoing commander Captain Vincent Stella.
The string of robberies began on May 29 at about 11:55 a.m. when a white male wearing a handkerchief or a bandana over his face held up a woman on Falmouth Street.
That frightening incident was followed two nights later at about 11:30 p.m. when another woman helping her elderly parents into their Dover Street home was robbed of her purse by a white man wearing a handkerchief or bandana over his face.
In both incidents, the robber drove up behind his victims in his own vehicle before getting out, committing the robbery and fleeing.
On June 2 at about 3 p.m. a group of four youths attacked two elderly women – one of them in her 80s – walking along Oriental Boulevard near Dover Street. The older woman was knocked to the ground during the robbery and suffered a broken hip.
Cops later arrested all four suspects in the crime.
The next day at about 12:30 p.m. a man was robbed of his cell phone waiting at a bus stop near Mackenzie Street and Oriental Boulevard.
The assailant took off down Mackenzie Street toward the bay, where he vaulted over the bulkhead in a desperate attempt to escape capture.
Cops immediately boarded a boat and fished him out while other officers recovered a handgun the suspect allegedly tried to toss before reaching the water.
“The bad guy got a little frazzled,” Mastrokostas told members of the Manhattan Beach Neighborhood Association.
In response to the robberies, the captain said that the precinct was increasing patrols throughout the neighborhood and making creative use of NYPD vehicles to deter thieves.
“The increased presence is going to stay here,” Mastrokostas promised, noting that year-to-date, overall crime is actually down in Manhattan Beach – one of the safest communities in all of New York City.
Last Wednesday cops apprehended a suspect in connection to the Dover Street incident – another man is believed to be responsible for the Falmouth Street holdup.
Mastrokostas urged residents to be aware of their surroundings at all times.
“If you’re pulling up and there’s a car behind you, think twice about getting out and walking nonchalantly into your house,” he said.
Residents sensing trouble should immediately use their cell phones to call 911. Since there are only two points of entry into Manhattan Beach, Mastrokostas said that cops can quickly lock down the community if notified in time and prevent a robber from escaping.
Some, however, pressed the police to do more.
Homeowner Howard Prussack called on cops to install surveillance cameras in the neighborhood.
But Mastrokostas dismissed the likelihood Manhattan Beach residents would ever see the NYPD’s “Argus” eye-in-the-sky cameras in their community.
“I’ve never seen the police department put Argus cameras in a low-crime area,” he said. “It’s not going to happen.”
Accepting widespread applause for reporting to the community on his day off, Mastrokostas said simply, “It was the responsible thing to do.”
