88th Precinct
Fort Greene—Clinton Hill
All dash, no dine
A restaurant rustler cut the “dine” out of dine-and-dash when he broke into a Fulton Street restaurant on March 30.
The victim told police the suspect was caught on camera busting through the front door of Efes Gyro & Grill near Vanderbilt Avenue at about 2:30 am. Once inside, the thief hopped behind the counter and nabbed the whole cash register, which contained $10,000 in cash, as well as equipment used to charge customers’ credit cards, and ran back out into the night.
Construction site crook
Some crook broke into a S Portland Avenue construction site on March 31 and stole thousands of dollars of equipment.
Police said the victim was sure to lock up when he left the site at 5 pm, but, the next morning, the jerk had managed to get the door open – damaging it in the process — and lifted screw guns, hammers, batteries, a tape measure, and a utility knife.
Scammers scare victim
A pair of scammers threatened an Oxford Street resident into handing over thousands of dollars on March 29.
The victim told police he received a call from two people pretending to be an Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agent and a New York City Police Department sergeant shortly before 11 am. The two charlatans told the man he had not properly filled out his visa and would be arrested and detained — unless he forked over thousands of dollars in giftcards and cash. He sent nearly $8,000 in Target gift cards and online payments before realizing the callers were fakes and reporting the incident to police.
Purse-snatcher grabs customer’s bag
A purse-snatcher stole a bag from customer while she was chatting with an Apple Store employee on Flatbush Avenue on April 1.
Police said the victim set her bag beside her on a bench in the Ashland Place store at about 1:30 pm while she was being helped. Just a few minutes later, she turned and realized the bag, which contained her credit and debit cards, prescription medication, and knitting supplies, had disappeared. The thief tried to use her cards before the victim could cancel the accounts.
Car lost, then found
A carjacker stole a Ford van parked on St. James Place on March 27.
The victim told police he headed out to move the car, which he had left near Greene Avenue, at about 11:30 pm, but someone had already moved it for him. A nearby security camera showed the thief hopping out of a U-Haul van, climbing into the parked Ford, and driving off. License plate recognition tracked the car crossing the Verrazano bridge toward Staten Island that night.
Two days later, after the thief managed to wrack up a parking ticket, the car was found parked on Dean Street and returned to its rightful owner.
