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Police Blotter, Week of June 19, 2014

Burglar with lovely hair
If you’ve got great hair, you probably don’t need any covering, but a hat store might still be a great cash supply for curling products.

Police say a suspect with apparently memorable “wavy/curly” brown hair may have broken into the Hat Club twice in recent days, taking just over $800, but no merchandise was missing from the Soho store at 103 Mercer St. 

The manager told police both times that he thought he knew the suspect, but either he or police did not reveal the man’s height or weight. Both times the manager described the suspect’s hair, which is said to be normal or short.

The first break-in was around 2:30 a.m. on June 12, when the accused left the door open and the door jam in pieces after taking $367 in cash. Two days later at 3:30 a.m., police found a broken glass door when responding to the scene. The manager said $450 was taken that time.

The store specializes in stylish baseball hats, and has attracted the likes of “The Tonight Show” host Jimmy Fallon, whose straight hair means, undoubtedly, that he is not a suspect.  

Victim catches mugger
A FiDi mugger was arrested after the victim knocked him to the ground of a subway platform Sunday night, police said

The 36-year-old man was walking on Broadway and Beaver St. June 15 at 9:20 p.m. when police say the suspect punched the victim in the back. The man then realized his backpack resting on the sidewalk and his wallet were gone. He chased the mugger down into the Bowling Green station. He grabbed the defendant, 45, on the platform and both fell to the floor. Two police officers arrested the suspect.

Rides less than grand
A Downtown express rider exiting the soon-to-reopen Fulton subway center lost nearly 8 grand in cash when a man grabbed her pocketbook as she was walking up the stairs on a Tuesday afternoon, police said. It was one of four Lower Manhattan subway crimes this month.

The 39-year-old woman got off a southbound 4 train June 3 at 3 p.m., and was walking to the Broadway and John St. exit when a 30-something robber grabbed her pocketbook and ran back into the station.

The woman said she lost $7,850 in cash, an iPhone 5 and a $300 black leather handbag.

The large subway labyrinth has remained open throughout the multi-year renovation project and is scheduled to reopen on June 26.

In another incident at the center, a pink polka dot wallet caught the eye of a pickpocket at the subway entrance near Broadway and John St. last week during afternoon rush hour.

The victim, a 28-year-old woman, zipped her wallet back into her backpack after passing though the turnstile just before 6 p.m., Wed., June 11. She and the male suspect crowded into an Uptown 4 train, but the swiper exited the train before it left the station. The woman noticed her backpack was open at the next stop, Brooklyn Bridge.  She lost her $112-monthly MetroCard, three credit cards, a $50-cell phone and the wallet, worth $25. 

The next morning, a 57-year-old man was robbed as he slept on the J train.

Luckily, the man awoke in time to recover his property with the help of police. The victim was riding a Downtown J train at 2:30 a.m., Thurs. June 12. His wallet had been in his back pocket, but when he awoke at the last stop, Broad St., he found a man going though his wallet. 

The rider confronted the robber then found a police officer who arrested the 50-year-old suspect.

In the fourth crime, a teenage thief on the Canal St. Downtown platform reached into a C train and grabbed an iPhone 5 from an 18-year-old woman Tuesday afternoon at 2:30, June 10, police said. The suspect fled, and the woman was later able to track the phone to 48th St. and 10th Ave. 

Con Ed heist
A Con Edison employee investigating a previous theft at a construction site near 80 Chambers St. discovered another heist in progress last week at 5 a.m. police said.

The suspect, equipped with a cable splicing tool, ran down Broadway and headed West on Murray St. lugging 30 pounds of copper valued at $1,500 on Wed., June 11.    

Construction burglary
A thief made off with over $5,000 worth of tools left in front of 194 Broadway sometime between Monday afternoon, June 2 and June 5 at 10 a.. police say.

The tool box itself was valued at $800 and the most expansive item taken was a $1,500-welding machine.

Unwanted tax write-off
A 44-year-old man calculated he lost $5,500 worth of property stolen from his van, with the most expensive items being C.P.A. books worth $2,600.

Police say the man parked his 2010 BMW at a lot at 1 South St., 8:30 p.m. Thurs., June 12, and when he returned three hours later, he discovered the back was open and also missing were $1,500 worth of clothes, a $500-Coach leather bag, and his iPhone 4. 

Fast food thief
A Parisian tourist sampling American cuisine at a FiDi McDonald’s, had his wallet swiped on a Saturday just after 3 in the afternoon. The Frenchman put his blazer containing his wallet behind his chair on the second floor of the Mickey D’s at 160 Broadway on June 7. He said another man came up from behind, took the wallet and quickly exited the restaurant.

 

– JOSH ROGERS