Crime Watch

Deranged Man Attacks Random Stranger You've probably never been conscious of who you share a park bench with, but this next crime might make you a littler warier. A couple was recently sitting on a bench in a park on Broadway eating pizza. Suddenly, a stranger who was sitting next to them got up and started hitting the 31-year-old man with the claw side of a hammer, screaming profanity. The perpetrator then struck his own head and face when the victim tried to crawl away. His wife tried to stop the deranged man, but to no avail--she suffered cuts to her left arm as well. She called the police, and the hammer-wielding man fled. The husband suffered deep cuts above his left eye and his forehead. Three witness were able to identify the man, reportedly is John Yoos of Crown Heights. Yoos now faces charges of first-degree assault, criminal possession of a weapon and reckless endangerment. Street Swipe Sometimes New Yorkers are unaware of how close is too close. A young woman was walking down Broadway around midnight last Monday when she noticed a group of four to five females walking a little too close for her comfort. Suddenly, one of the young women hit the 26-year-old victim in the back of the head, yelling, "Are you going to give me your phone?" Another of the robbers nabbed the $250 Samsung Galaxy S2 from the victim's hand, causing a small cut on her thumb. Another perp daringly swiped the victim's pocketbook, and the group fled the scene. Band of Adolescents Rob a Disabled Woman According to a police report, a 32-year-old disabled woman was sitting at a table in a café on State Street reading a book when eight or 10 young boys approximately 13 to 15 years in age approached her to ask for directions to an address on the same street. As soon as the woman pulled out her iPhone for its GPS navigation system, one of the boys grabbed it, yelled "Psych!" and ran out of the café, fleeing northbound with the rest of the group following suit. Fortunately, the café provided the police with video evidence. The $700 iPhone 4S and its $39 case have not yet been found. Unsuccessful iTheft A 33-year-old woman was walking down Warren Street last Tuesday late in the afternoon when a 16-year-old girl approached her, grabbed her $700 iPhone 4S from her hand and fled. The daring victim engaged in pursuit on foot after the teenaged thief. Luckily, a police officer witnessed the chase and followed the woman. The officer soon found the bandit in Rockefeller Park's department building, sitting on a bench. The girl was arrested and the iPhone was found in her shorts pocket. When the victim showed up soon afterward, she positively identified the robber and her phone. Deft Diner Nab In these crime blotter pages, we've often reported on thefts from unsuspecting diners in restaurants-this next crime is probably the biggest one yet. A 31-year-old woman grabbing lunch in a diner on Prince Street placed her heirloom diamond ring on the table to dry her hands. When she reached for her ring to place it back on her finger, it was gone. The ring was worth a whopping $40,000. Because it was passed down from past generations, the unlucky woman has no proof of purchase or receipt of the ring. There were no witnesses. Bilingual Bank Bust Sometimes being bilingual can unexpectedly help you in a robbery. Last Monday, a bearded man wearing a black baseball cap and sunglasses entered a bank on Canal Street at around 10:30 a.m. The man approached a bank teller and passed her a note reading "Robbery. Give me 50s and 100s." He reportedly then said, "50s and 100s, give me 50s and 100s." As soon as the teller read the note, she quietly mumbled to her neighboring teller "robbery" in Cantonese. Her co-worker pushed the alarm button, while the first teller pretended to retrieve cash. She also knocked on the counter with a roll of quarters, which prompted another teller to take notice of what was happening. The third teller also pushed her alarm button. Fortunately, the noise of the quarters and alarms scared the robber and he ran out of the bank with no cash all in a matter of minutes. -Compiled by Adel Manoukian