Crime Watch

Plumbing the Depths

Expensive plumbing fixtures were taken from a woman's apartment on West 86th Street. Several contractors had been doing work in the apartment of the 59-year-old woman between 10 AM on Tuesday, October 1 and 3 PM, November 13, when some plumbing fixtures went missing. There were no signs of forced entry. The items stolen were a showerhead valued at $3,719 and another showerhead priced at $3,647, for a total of $7,366.

Dresser Distresser

Someone stole jewelry from a woman's apartment on Central Park West. At 3 PM on Monday, October 21, a 56-year-old woman moved into an apartment on Central Park West and placed her jewelry in her top dresser drawer. When she looked for her jewelry on November 11, she discovered that it was missing. She told police that no one but her assistant had been in her apartment. Items stolen were a Renee Lewis yellow metal pendant with loose blue stones, valued at $15,200, Renee Lewis yellow metal earrings priced at $15,200, a Buccellati yellow metal necklace with links costing $5,500, and a Primak white metal ring with eternity white stones valued at $3,700. The total amount of the jewelry stolen came to $39,600.

Not-So-Grand Openings

A woman became a victim of identity theft. At 2 PM on Thursday, November 14, a 48-year-old woman living on West 80th Street reported receiving a bill in the mail from Lord and Taylor with charges to an account she told police she had never opened. She then performed a credit check and discovered that another store card had also been opened at the Gap without her permission or authorization. More damaging, money had been withdrawn from her Chase banking account. The woman said she had lost her wallet in February of 2013. The amount stolen was $2,208 charged to Lord and Taylor, plus Chase bank withdrawals of $8,300 and $20,900, totaling $31,408.

ID Woe

A man was victimized by identity thieves for a second time. At 8:14 PM on November 17, a 37-year-old man living on West 83rd Street reported that an unknown perpetrator had used his ID to have packages mailed to an address in Queens. The man also said that he had received an e-mail about these packages and that he had been a victim of ID theft in the past. A credit card had also been sent to the Queens address. The total of the fraudulent charges amounted to $2,500.

Teachers' Pests

Someone stole items from a teacher's purse in a school on West 83rd Street. A 23-year-old female teacher left her purse unsecured on the top of a classroom counter, and between the hours of 9:45 AM and 10:15 AM on Sunday, November 17, items were removed from her purse. Her MasterCard later showed two unauthorized charges, both made on November 17. One was a charge of $58 at an MTA vending machine and the other, a charge of $5 at Woodside Management. There was no video surveillance in the classroom. Items stolen were a red square wallet, an Alabama driver's license, a Metro Card valued at $30, and various credit and debit cards.

During the same time period, at the same school, a 32-year-old female teacher left her purse unsecured on the top of a classroom counter, and her property was also removed. In her case, no unauthorized charges turned up on her credit card. She used the Find My iPhone app, and the last known ping location appeared in the vicinity of Harlem. Items stolen were an iPhone 5 valued at $500, a Kate Spade wallet, various credit cards, and an ATM card.

At 7 AM on Friday, November 8, a 67-year-old female teacher placed her purse on top of her desk in a school on Amsterdam Avenue and asked her students, "Please watch my bag." She later discovered that her wallet was missing from inside the purse. There were no unauthorized charges on her credit cards, and she canceled the cards. Items stolen were a Coach wallet valued at $98, $80 in cash, a New York State driver's license, a Medicare card, various credit cards, and a Costco card.