88th Precinct
Fort Greene–Clinton Hill
Cool hand criminal
This was one cool crook.
A devil-may-care thief calmly looted a parked car near the corner of Ashland Place and Willoughby Street on July 29 — even after the car’s owner caught him in the act!
The 48-year-old owner of the 2000 Chevrolet Malibu returned to his vehicle at 2 pm — only to find the thief inside, pocketing a navigation system, radio and a portable television.
“What are you doing?” the victim screamed. “I’m going to call the police!”
Typically, this is when a thief runs off, but this one didn’t even flinch.
“Call the police,” the thug nonchalantly said as he reached for his waistband as if he had a gun. He then slowly backed away from the car and walked off with the stolen property.
iPhone grabs
The iPhone was a hot item for thieves in Fort Greene and Clinton Hill this week. Here’s the rundown.
• Three teens on bikes rolled up and robbed a 41-year-old man of his iPhone at the corner of Lafayette Street and Flatbush Avenue Extension on July 31.
The victim was nearing the corner at 3:15 am when the suspects attacked, pulling the smartphone from his shirt pocket.
• A thief ran off with a woman’s iPhone on July 25 after asking her for the time at the corner of Lafayette Avenue and Adelphi Street.
The victim was nearing the corner at 2:15 pm when the thief approached and posed his question. When she checked her watch, the thief snatched the smartphone from her other hand and ran away.
• Two goons jumped a 38-year-old at the Fulton Street subway station on July 25, taking his $400 iPhone.
The victim was reading an e-mail on his phone at 7:05 pm when the thugs grabbed him from behind and punched him in the face.
Purse-loined
A hulking thug struck a 33-year-old woman in the head during a July 30 purse snatching on Clinton Avenue.
The victim was between Willoughby and DeKalb avenues at 5:30 am when the thief struck her in the back of the head, grabbed her purse and ran to an awaiting minivan.
Sandman cometh
A thief crawled into a S. Oxford Street apartment early on July 30 and took a laptop while his victim slept.
The victim said that she was in bed inside her apartment between DeKalb and Lafayette avenues at 12:09 am. When she woke up at 9 am, her laptop was missing and her screen window was ajar.
Laptop swipe
A thief broke into a Grand Avenue apartment on July 25, taking an Apple MacBook.
The 28-year-old tenant told police that she returned to her home between Clifton Place and Greene Avenue at 5:30 pm to learn that her laptop was missing. All of the doors and windows to were closed, but the victim admitted that the window leading out to the fire escape is broken.
Van loot
A crook broke into a van parked on Clermont Avenue on July 26, taking a $400 pipe cutter.
Employees from All-Boro Fire and Safety said that they parked the 2006 Ford van between Lafayette and Greene avenues at 2:30 pm.
When they returned to the vehicle 15 minutes later, the doors were unlocked and the pipe cutter was missing.
Quick grab
A lightning fast thief swiped a wallet from a 19-year-old woman on a DeKalb Avenue bus on July 28.
The young victim put her wallet on her lap as the bus approached Clinton Avenue at 12:17 pm. The thief seized the opportunity — scooping up and running of with the wallet in a matter of seconds.
Chevy raid
A thief ransacked a 2009 Chevrolet parked on Willoughby Street on July 29 — swiping a credit card that he later used to buy two pairs of stylish specs at Exclusive Eyewear on Livingston Street between Flatbush and Nevins avenues.
The car was parked between Adelphi and Fleet places at noon, but when its owner returned two hours later, the cabin had been tossed.
Luggage loot
A thief seized an opportunity and took two pieces of luggage left outside a Washington Avenue home on July 30.
The owner of the luggage had just returned home from a trip at midnight, but forgot to take in all the bags that he had placed in front of his address between Myrtle and Willoughby avenues.
He didn’t realize that he was short two bags until 9 am the next morning, but the bags — as well as the laptop computer, mortgage papers and prescription pills inside them — were long gone.
Sidekick swipe
A thief snagged a Sidekick cellphone from a 19-year-old woman during a July 30 confrontation on a Q train.
The doors had just opened on the Manhattan-bound platform of the DeKalb Avenue station at 5:15 pm when the thief ran up to her and said, “Can you give me this?”
Before the young woman could respond, the thief ripped the phone from her hand and fled the train.
Robbed report
A 29-year-old was arrested on July 31 after he ripped a necklace off a 21-year-old woman at the corner of Fulton Street and Vanderbilt Avenue.
The thief began following the woman at 2:50 am, then ran by and yanked the necklace off her. Cops said that they arrested a suspect a short time later.
Mall menaces
At least two crimes took place at the Atlantic Center Mall last week. Here’s what happened:
• A thug busted his way into a 2011 Toyota in the parking lot on July 27, taking a laptop computer he found inside.
The owner of the car parked his vehicle inside the Atlantic Avenue lot at 4:05 pm. When he returned nearly two hours later, he learned that someone had smashed his side window and removed a bag holding his computer.
• A 22-year-old man was arrested on July 25 after he tried to buy more than $9,000 in electronics — including five iPads — from the Best Buy inside the Atlantic Center Mall with a fraudulent credit card.
The man was arrested as soon as an employee learned that the credit card he had been reported stolen.
— Thomas Tracy
