Crime Report: A Baseball-Bat Brawl, a Stoning, and Much More (With Map)

Police&Thieves

Here’s The Local’s latest installment of “Police And Thieves,” your weekly roundup of crime. What follows are the latest reports from Feb. 12 to Feb. 19, sorted by the type of incident. Our map of all of crime since Jan. 15 is at bottom.

Assault

  • A early-morning brawl on East Fourth Street resulted in a man being clobbered with an aluminum baseball bat on Feb. 18. The 22-year-old victim told the police he got in an argument with the suspect on East Fourth Street between First and Second Avenues at around 5 a.m., after which the suspect punched him in the face and clocked him with the bat, causing swelling to his face and a cut.

Robberies

    • A 21-year-old told the police he was on Third Avenue between 10th and 11th Streets at around 4:30 a.m. on Feb. 17 when he was blindsided and knocked out. When he came to, his wallet and watch were missing.
    • A man was clobbered with a rock in the hallway of the Jacob Riis Houses on Feb. 19. The 39-year-old victim said he was in a building on Avenue D near East Seventh Street at around 1:15 a.m. when two men struck him and stole his cellphone and wallet. The victim would not cooperate further with the police.
    • A thief confronted a man in a playground of the Jacob Riis Houses on Feb. 18 and stole a whopping $2,300 from him. The 30-year-old told the police he was crossing through the playground on FDR Drive near East 14th Street at around 4:45 a.m. when the suspect punched him in the face and demanded money. The victim said he handed over $40, but the suspect demanded more. The victim then fled into the lobby of a nearby building, where the two wrestled. The suspect — who is said to have brandished a glass bottle — eventually gained the upper hand and stole the wad of cash from the victim’s pocket.
    • Two men snatched a 14-year-old’s headphones on Feb. 15. The victim told the police he was at the corner of First Avenue and East 14th Street at around 3 p.m. when the duo approached and said, “Let me get your beats.” The victim said he then tried to walk away but one of the suspects snatched his headphones — valued at $300 — and took off. The victim gave chase and got into a brawl on East 13th Street, but the suspects managed to escape again.
    • The police said that around 11:15 p.m. on Feb. 14, they came upon a man with robbery tools in a Walgreens on Fourth Avenue between 13th and 14th Streets.

Burglaries

    • Three burglars broke into the Landmark Vintage Bicycles on East Third Street on Feb. 12. The police said that the trio forced open a side window in the store between First Avenue and Avenue A at around 8 p.m. and stole cash from the register. One of the suspects was arrested, and police are on the hunt for his two accomplices.
    • A burglar busted into Spice Cove on East Sixth Street on Feb. 12. An employee at the restaurant told the police the thief must have entered through the front window and then stole an undisclosed amount of cash from the register. Surveillance footage was available of the crime.
    • A burglar broke into one of the vendors in the small flea market on Broadway near East Fourth Street on Feb. 16. An employee of Fast Turtle told the police that the suspect removed a door’s hinges and removed 1,000 rings worth $30 each.

Grand Larcenies

  • Something sordid happened at Affaire: someone sidled up to a woman and stole her iPhone and wallet on Feb. 12. The 42-year-old victim told the police she was at the club on Avenue B at around 3 a.m. when the suspect bumped her. Minutes later she realized her items were missing. A $40 charge had been made to her credit card when she called to cancel it.
  • An irate boyfriend is accused of stealing a woman’s purse on Feb. 13. The 19-year-old victim told the police her boyfriend of four years was waiting for her in the lobby of her building on East First Street between First Avenue and Avenue A at around 9:15 p.m. when he snatched her purse and ran.
  • Someone swiped a woman’s jewelry from her apartment sometime after Jan. 19. The 61-year-old victim told the police she had left her apartment on East Sixth Street between Avenues A and B while it was being renovated. She had even placed a rug over a dresser drawer that contained her bling. Nevertheless, when she returned on Feb. 10 her jewelry was gone.
  • Phillip Kalantzis-Cope
  • An eagle-eyed thief took a woman’s wallet from the Eye and Ear Infirmary on Feb. 15. The 47-year-old victim said that her wallet, containing her credit card, disappeared five minutes after she set it down on a counter around 12:30 p.m. at the clinic on East 14th Street between First and Second Avenues.
  • A thief lurking around a building on Lafayette Streetswiped a man’s wallet from his desk on Feb. 16. The victim told the police he stepped away from his desk in the building between East Fourth and Great Jones Streets at around 12:30 p.m. When he returned, his wallet and phone were gone. Surveillance footage showed the suspect wandering around the office — the victim’s coworkers also saw the thief hovering around his desk.
  • Daniel Maurer The aftermath of the fire.
  • An opportunist struck 21 East First Street after it was vacated due to a fire. The police said that when a 25-year-old resident returned to the building on Feb. 17, two days after it had been boarded up by the owner, he noticed he was missing an assortment of watches and jewelry.
  • An apparent disagreement between a cabbie and his passenger resulted in him speeding off with a woman’s purse on Feb. 17. The 23-year-old victim told the police she was being dropped off at East Houston and Mulberry Streets at around 1:40 a.m. when she realized the debit card machine was not working. She then stepped out to use an ATM, but the cabbie apparently wasn’t on board with the plan; he also got out of the car, yelled at her and snatched her purse.
  • Someone snatched a wallet and phone from the floor of the AMC Theater on Feb. 11. The 19-year-old victim told the police his jacket fell on the floor of the theater on Third Avenue at around 10:15 p.m. as he was leaving. When he realized that his items had fallen out of his coat pocket, it was too late.
  • There was an active thief in Idle Hands Bar on Feb. 18. The 38-year-old victim told the police she left her bag unattended in the bar on Avenue B at around midnight. Minutes later, it was gone. Several unauthorized transactions had been made on her debit card by the next day.
  • A thief swiped a woman’s wallet from her purse in Niagara on Feb. 18. The 28-year-old victim told the police she was waiting to check her coat in the bar on Avenue A at around 2:15 a.m. About 20 minutes later she realized her wallet was missing.
  • bar story 13th step beer specialSimon McCormack A drink special at the 13th Step.
  • A pickpocket stole an iPhone but didn’t make it out of Webster Hall on Feb. 19. The victim told police the suspect reached in his pocket at around 1:30 a.m. and then swiped his iPhone from a carrying case on his belt. The suspect then tried to leave the club on East 11th Street but was stopped by security and eventually arrested.
  • Someone did more than just check out a woman’s coat in the coat check of Webster Hall on Feb. 18. The victim told the police she checked her coat in the club on East 11th Street at around midnight. When she retrieved her coat, the wallet was missing.
  • The police arrested a man who they say stole a woman’s wallet from her purse on Feb. 19 in Webster Hall. The police said the suspect was busted at around 2:40 a.m. with the victim’s debit card.
  • An unattended bag disappeared from Webster Hall on Feb. 14. The victim told police her bag containing her credit cards and a laptop went missing after she sent it down in the club’s basement.
  • A pickpocket bumped a man and stole his wallet in the 13th Step on Feb. 19. The victim told the police that shortly after he was bumped at around midnight, he realized his wallet was missing from his coat pocket.
  • A thief digging through purses in the 13th Step was arrested on Feb. 19. An officer at the bar said he was taking a report for a stolen wallet (presumably the incident above) when he was alerted by a manager to a suspect who was seen on surveillance footage stealing a wallet from a different bag. The officer then arrested the suspect, who may have stolen the original victim’s wallet as well.
  • A duo swiped a woman’s purse from the 13th Step on Feb. 16. Surveillance footage captured one suspect removing the bag from a hook in the bar. An accomplice placed a jacket over it and then walked off with it. The police found the bag in the bathroom, minus an assortment of credit cards. One of the suspects was arrested at the Best Buy at Union Square trying to use the stolen cards.
  • A thief stole an assortment of electronics from the front of an apartment building on Feb. 19, though some of them turned up in a nearby garbage can a day later. The 49-year-old victim told the police he had set a bag down in front of the building on East Ninth Street between First and Second Avenues at around 7:30 p.m. when the suspect must have snatched the bag. A day later the police received an anonymous call that the property was in a trash can a block away. Sure enough, several of the stolen gadgets were found in the garbage.

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