Crime Report: Purse Pinches and Bag Snags

With this post, The Local concludes its recap of the past month of crime within the Ninth Precinct. We started with beat-downs, brawls, and blades, then continued on to burgled businesses and stolen rides. After that: Robberies and cell-phone snatches. And now: Purse pinches and bag snags. Plus: Click on our crime map, which will be constantly updated and can always be found on the right-hand column of The Local’s homepage.

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  • A club-goer left Nublu with the blues on Jan. 21. A thief swiped a bag containing a laptop and jewelry that the victim had left unattended in the club between East Fourth and Fifth Streets at around 2 a.m.
  • A quick-handed thief snatched a woman’s bag on Jan. 14. The 49-year-old victim said she was inside her building on East Fourth Street between Avenues C and Dat around 4 p.m. when she placed her bag (containing $2,281-worth of items) on the ground. That’s when the thief made his move and fled towards East River Park.
  • A thief snatched a man’s bag on Jan. 16. The 25-year-old victim said that he had placed his bag down at around 10 p.m. at Avenue B and East Seventh Street when the thief grabbed his bag and ran into Tompkins Square Park. The bag contained a laptop, camera and sunglasses worth $2,281.
  • A not-so-sweet thief snatched a woman’s bag from Jane’s Sweet Buns on Jan. 16. The victim told police that she set her bag down by the front door of the store on St. Marks Place between First Avenue and Avenue A at around 3 p.m. and went downstairs to work. When she returned the bag, containing an assortment of credit cards, was gone.
  • Someone was doing business as a bandit at D.B.A. on Jan. 17. The 28-year-old victim told the police she went to the bathroom in the bar on First Avenue between East Second and Third Streets at around 11:30 p.m. When she returned, her bag (containing a cellphone, credit cards and $90) was missing.
  • A woman had bad luck at the 13th Step on Jan. 18. The 44-year-old victim said she went into a private room at the bar on Second Avenue between East Ninth and 10th Streets at around midnight and left her purse on a chair at the bar. When she returned, her jacket and credit cards were missing.
  • Another woman’s bag vanished from the same bar on Feb. 10. The 23-year-old victim told the police she had hung her bag on a hook at the bar on Second Avenue between East Ninth and 10th Streets at around 2 a.m. and left it unattended for a few minutes. When she returned, she realized the bag was missing and began searching for it. She discovered it outside the bar on a stoop, missing a cellphone, $20 and credit cards. She had $204 of unauthorized charges on her cards.
  • A thief swiped a woman’s unattended purse at Webster Hall on Jan. 27. The 23-year-old victim told the police she left the bag on a table in the club on 11th Street near Fourth Avenue at around 2 a.m. When she returned her attention to it, she realized she was missing her wallet and cellphone.
  • Bandit in the bathhouse! A thief snatched a man’s laptop that he had left unattended at the Russian and Turkish Baths on Jan. 27. The victim told the police he was at the bathhouse on East Tenth Street at around 5:45 p.m.
  • On Feb. 6, a man’s laptop disappeared from the same bathhouse. The victim told cops he had locked his computer in a locker at around 6 p.m. When he returned to the locker, it was open and his computer was missing. He argued with management for around two hours and then called the police.
  • A thief swiped a woman’s purse from the Theater For the New City on Jan. 23. The victim told police she put her purse on a chair in the back room of the theater on First Avenue between Ninth and 10th Streets at around 8:30 a.m. and got to work; the bag then went missing, along with other electronics from the theater. The thief swiped laptops, credit cards, keyboards and an ID.
  • Talk about a stolen commodity. A thief snatched a woman’s briefcase from Commodities Natural Market on Feb. 8. The 26-year-old victim told the police she had set her luggage down in the grocery store on First Avenue between East 10th and 11th Streets at around 8:45 p.m. Surveillance footage captured the thief grabbing the bag and leaving the store. An employee said the suspect is a regular customer.
  • A thief swiped a cellphone from a woman’s purse at The Central Bar on Feb. 4. The 23-year-old victim told the police she was at the bar on East Ninth Street between Third and Fourth Avenues at around midnight when she realized her bag was open and the phone missing. She later found out that $400-worth of unauthorized calls had been made on her phone to Haiti.
  • A woman’s wallet was swiped from her friend’s purse while she partied at Niagara on Feb. 4. The 29-year-old victim told the police she had placed her wallet in the bag at around 3 a.m. at the bar at East Seventh Street and Avenue A. When she returned her attention to it she realized the wallet, containing an assortment of debit cards, was missing.
  • The police are on the hunt for a thief who grabbed a woman’s wallet that she had left behind at Yuca Bar on Feb. 4. The victim told the police she had left her purse at the restaurant on Avenue A at East Seventh Street at around 5:30 p.m. When she returned to retrieve it, her wallet, containing an assortment of credit cards, was missing. A $50 MetroCard had been purchased with one of her cards by the time she canceled it.
  • A marathon man’s unattended backpack was stolen from a track at East River Park on Feb. 4. The 37-year-old victim told police he had left his bag on a soccer field inside of the running track near East Sixth Street and Roosevelt Drive at around 3 p.m. When he finished his laps, the backpack (containing a cell phone, camera, iPod, credit cards and $55) was gone.
  • There was a bandit in The Bean on Broadway on Feb. 4. The victim told the police that her purse disappeared shortly after she placed it behind her seat in the café at East 12th Street at around 9:30 p.m. She lost a Texas ID and an assortment of credit cards.
  • Croon with care! A thief swiped a woman’s wallet while she sang at Sing Sing Karaoke Lounge on Feb. 5. The 23-year-old victim told the police she was at the lounge on St. Marks Place between Second and Third Avenues at around 12:30 a.m. She left her wallet unattended on a couch, never to see it again
  • This is a major inconvenience, bar none. A woman’s briefcase went missing at Bar None on Jan. 26. The victim told the police she arrived at the bar on Third Avenue between 12th and 13th Streets at around 2 a.m. An hour later when she returned her attention to it, the briefcase (containing an iPad, prescription drugs, a wallet and a cellphone) was gone. All told, she lost $3,700-worth of property.
  • A thief snatched another woman’s purse from the same watering hole on Feb. 11. The 21-year-old victim told the police she set her bag down on the bar at Bar None at around 3 a.m. When she returned her attention to it less than two minutes later, her bag, containing a cellphone and debit card, was missing.
  • A thief broke into a car parked on East 10th Street on Jan. 27. The 22-year-old victim told the police she returned to her car between Second and Third Avenues at around 2 a.m. and noticed she was missing debit cards, a social security card and jewelry.
  • A pickpocket snatched a woman’s wallet from her purse while she hung out at Alphabet Lounge on Feb. 14. The 25-year-old victim told police that she noticed her purse (which she said had been on her shoulder) was open and her wallet missing at around 11:30 p.m. at the bar on Avenue C at East Seventh Street. She lost $150, an assortment of credit cards and a MetroCard.
  • A thief swiped a woman’s wallet from her purse on Jan. 15 while she hung out at Keybar. The 27-year-old victim told the police that she noticed her purse was unzipped and her wallet missing at around 3 a.m. at the bar between Avenue A and First Avenue. Several unauthorized charges had been made on her credit card.
  • A pickpocket stole a woman’s cellphone from her bag at Bowery Electric on Jan. 28. The victim told the police that she was at the club between East Second and Third Streets at around 12:30 a.m. when she noticed the phone was missing.
  • That’s poor behavior — even for the Pourhouse. A thief swiped a woman’s wallet and cellphone from her purse while she partied at the Village Pourhouse on Jan. 27. The 23-year-old victim told police she was with a friend at the bar on Third Avenue near 11th Street at around 11:30 p.m. when they noticed the items missing from her bag. She also lost $50.