Cops have arrested one man in connection with a rash of burglaries along and near the fabled Boardwalk over the past two weeks.
Police refuse to confirm the arrest, but vendors said that someone was collared after Benny Harrison’s shop on Jones Walk was burglarized twice, and the Lola Star boutique on the Boardwalk was ransacked.
Two of the burglaries occurred overnight on July 20.
Lola Star owner Dianna Carlin told us that she arrived at her shop, which is between W. 12th Street and Stillwell Avenue, to find the roll-down door pried open — and most of her cash, T-shirts and jewelry missing.
“In my 10 years, it’s the first time this has ever happened,” Carlin told us. “It’s such a bad time for this to happen with my new [Stillwell Avenue] shop opening up. You start to get your feet on the ground and then … disaster.”
Harrison’s shop, which is between Bowery Street and Surf Avenue and features a slew of prizes and electronics for his “Skin the Wire” game, was also burglarized that night — for the second time in two weeks.
Stan Fox, a worker at the Coney Island History Project, said that the crooks busted a hole in Harrison’s ceiling and took DVD players, wristwatches, and a bunch of other electronics.
Worse, there are unconfirmed reports that the villains tried and failed to break into other shops on the Boardwalk.
Cops arrested one of the jerks, who had Harrison’s merchandise on him, though they wouldn’t confirm whether there was a connection between that incident and the one at Lola Star.
Luckily for Carlin, one of the dastardly dunces left his own T-shirt in the shop, and cops were able to snag a DNA sample. Carlin is also spreading the word that her shop is the only one that sells her T-shirts so any being sold on the street could be in the hands of the perps.
Still, Coney Island officials hope that the arrest means the end of the recent crime spree — and they’re worried that burglaries are on the rise.
“Years ago we had incidents like these,” Fox said. “For the last few years we’ve been OK, but this is a real throwback to the old lawless days.”
Until the property is returned and more arrests are made, Carlin said she’s down about $4,000 in merchandise.
