Wrestling match
A thief grabbed a woman’s cellphone after winning a tug-of-war for it near the corner of Washington and Greene avenues on March 28. But the crime did not end there.
The victim of the 2:15 pm incident told cops that a man driving down the street heard her cries and got out to chase the cell snatcher. A second passerby on a bike soon joined the chase.
When the perp saw the posse pursuing him he dropped the cellphone and kept moving — but that didn’t stop his pursuers, who finally tackled him on Clinton Avenue between Lafayette and Greene avenues.
Officer Thomas Miller got the collar.
Choke hold-ups
Watch out Fort Greene pedestrians! Two women were robbed and put in choke holds on the same day. Here’s a roundup:
• A thief approached a woman from behind, grabbing her neck and choking her on March 23 to steal her backpack and laptop. The victim told cops that the violent offender slammed her face into a parked car and told her to “shut up,” at around 1:50 pm.
The perp got away rounding the corner of Classon and Gates avenues with her goods in hand.
• Later that day a thug wrapped his arm around a woman’s neck at around 10:35 pm. The choke victim said that the perp punched her in the face and stole her iPhone near the corner of Greene and Clermont avenues.
Unholy heist
A con man tricked a woman into thinking that he was her pastor on March 19 by telephoning her and addressing her with a name that only her pastor uses.
The caller told his dupe that he was in jail and needed her to get $6,200 in bail money, which someone would pick up from her at 6 am.
At the appointed hour, the duped devotee gathered the dough and left her house on Greene Avenue between Classon and Grand avenues, where she handed the money to a man in a dark Town Car.
iSnatch
A predatory posse of four surrounded a man on Clinton Avenue and stole his iPod on March 24.
The victim told cops that he was in front of his home between Greene and Gates avenues at around 12:20 am when one of the men punched him in the face and said, “Don’t move or I’ll blow your head off.”
The group got away with the iPod and cash.
Target trickster
Yet another woman’s purse was stolen at the Target at the Atlantic Terminal Mall on March 22.
The victim told police that she noticed that her bag was gone when she headed for the checkout line at 5:45 pm. She also lost three $45 Metrocards and credit cards.
Not very PC
Two thieves entered the PC Richard Store on March 25 and got away with more than $2,000 worth of goods.
The manager of the store, which is at the corner of Atlantic and Flatbush avenues, said that the perps broke into a showroom case and grabbed the electronics at 3:30 pm.
Bank bust
A gunman robbed more than $1,600 from a Fulton Street branch on March 26.
Cops say that the robber approached a teller’s window at around 2:30 pm and handed the teller a $10 bill — along with a note demanding she hand over lots of cash.
Oh, and he also had a black handgun.
“You want this?” he asked, gesturing towards the gun.
The terrified teller handed over $1,612, and the thief fled from the bank, which is at the corner of Clinton Avenue.
Bicycle bandits
Two thugs who appeared to have guns sandwiched a biker on March 15, beat him up and stole his wheels.
The scared cyclist told cops that when the men surrounded him at around 9:30 pm near the corner of Fulton and Downing streets, with one thug punching him in the face and the other grabbing the bike.
Cell swipe
A sneaky crook stole a Sidekick cellphone out of a man’s hands on March 16 near the corner of Myrtle and Clermont avenues.
The victim said he was walking with his sister when a man approached asking what time it was at around 5 pm. When he removed the device from his pocket to check, the stranger grabbed the phone and ran away.
Grade school grab
A 14-year-old thief shoved an 11-year-old victim up against a wall at MS 13 on Adelphi Street and demanded the kid’s watch on March 16.
The pre-teen victim said that this unruly upperclassman approached him at 11:15 am and said, “Give me your watch” before holding him against the wall.
But the tween fought his attacker and managed to push off the perp and retain possession of the old-school wristwear. Teachers at the school, which is between DeKalb and Lafayette avenues, reported the incident.
— Claire Glass
