FiDi robbers
Police arrested two men, aged 21 and 24, early on March 3 after they tried to rob one person in the Financial District and then actually did rob another person minutes later.
The suspects first walked into the 7-Eleven store at 111 John St. around 11:30 p.m. on March 2, and asked a 19-year-old male employee to step outside, police said. On the sidewalk, the two suspects, aided by a third man, then reportedly tried to take the employee’s wallet by force, but they failed and then fled the scene.
Then, shortly before midnight, all three of the muggers approached another man near the corner of Pine and William Sts., threatened him with a knife and took his wallet, police said. After the incident was reported, cops arrived on the scene and, after a canvass of the area, were able to apprehend the 21-year-old and 24-year-old suspects, although the third one got away. The two men arrested were both charged with robbery and attempted robbery.
Chinatown hit and run
Police arrested a 20-year-old woman after they say she ran over an elderly man in Chinatown on Feb. 28 and then fled the scene.
The woman was driving a 2014 Infiniti Q50 west on Hester St. shortly before 7 a.m. when she made a left turn onto Bowery and struck the 63-year-old pedestrian, who was within the crosswalk, police said. The man suffered injuries to his head and hands, and after witnesses reported the incident, paramedics rushed him to Bellevue Hospital where he remains in critical condition, according to cops.
After barreling the unwitting man over, the driver reportedly stepped outside her car, took a look at him, and sped away. But a witness was able to snap a photo of her, which he quickly provided to police. An immediate investigation by the N.Y.P.D.’s Collision Investigation Squad soon revealed that, following the incident, the suspect fled to Brooklyn over the Manhattan Bridge, police said.
And later that day, cops learned that the same Infiniti had been slapped with a parking ticket in Prospect Heights, after which officers there canvassed the area and spotted the car — although they found it was now being driven by a 23-year-old man. Shortly after that, both the female suspect and the man were apprehended. She was charged with leaving the scene of an accident, and both suspects were charged with unlicensed operation and unauthorized use of a vehicle.
Unattended bags
Three people in the Downtown area were recently targeted by opportunistic thieves after leaving their property unattended, police said.
On Feb. 27, a 32-year-old man told cops he started having a few drinks inside the Tribeca Tavern, at 247 W. Broadway, around 9 p.m., and left his bag sitting at the bar for two hours without keeping an eye on it. When he returned to the bar to grab his stuff, he realized that the bag — which contained his laptop, iPad and glasses — was gone.
Then on March 1, a Brazilian tourist told cops she was having lunch with her husband inside the Arome Cafe at 5 Dey St. around 2 p.m., while leaving her purse hanging of the back of her chair. After finishing the meal, she turned around to find that the purse — which contained $1,000 in cash, her camera and two credit cards — had been snatched by an unknown perp.
And on March 3, a 24-year-old woman said she and a friend were eating lunch inside the Blue Spoon Coffee Company, at 76 Chambers St., around 2:15 p.m., while she also had left her purse hanging off the back of her chair. The purse was quickly stolen and although the woman later found it in a garbage can outside the restaurant, her wallet (containing two credit cards) and cell phone had been taken from the bag, police said.
None of the thieves could be identified, according to cops.
Phone snatcher arrested
Police arrested an 18-year-old man on Feb. 28 after they say he snatched a woman’s cell phone as she was stepping off a subway train in the Financial District.
The woman, 27, said she was exiting a southbound A train at the Fulton St. station — under the corner of Fulton and Nassau Sts. — when the teen ripped the phone away and tried to flee the scene. But police inside the station stopped him before he could get away, and he was charged with grand larceny.
Beaten up and ripped off
Police are still searching for three unidentified men who reportedly attacked another man and then stole his cell phone on the Lower East Side back in January.
The victim, 28, told cops he was walking past the corner of Ludlow and Canal Sts. around 2:15 p.m. on Jan. 16, when the three muggers approached from behind and punched him in the head. The blows caused the man’s Samsung Galaxy phone to fall to the ground, but although he tried to pick it up, the suspects, about 18 to 20 years old, kicked him in the back, swiped the phone and fled west on Canal St., police said. The victim wasn’t seriously injured and refused medical attention.
— Sam Spokony
