Crime Watch

BY JERRY DANZIG

Shades of GrayA fashion model got double dipped by a fraudster. At 8:30 a.m. on Feb. 25, a 23-year-old woman living on West 86th Street received a $4,960 check from the Gray Shade modeling agency to cover the cost of her wardrobe for an upcoming shoot. She deposited the check and then withdrew the same amount, which she sent the following day as instructed via Western Union Money Gram to a person unknown to her. Later the model discovered that the same amount had been withdrawn from her bank account without her permission. An investigation revealed that the bank check was fraudulent. The victim therefore was defrauded out of both the wire transfer money and the bank check, making a total stolen of $9,921.

Outlaw In-LawsA young man earned his girlfriend’s trust, but the same could not be said for his family members. On Feb. 19, a 21-year-old woman cashed her income tax refund check of $5,000 and returned home to her apartment on West 100th Street to place the money in a black plastic bag under her mattress. She later removed $200 from the bag and then put the money back in the same place. After returning home from errands a few days later, the remaining money — $4,800 — was missing. She told police that her boyfriend’s mother and brother had been staying in her home since Feb. 11, they were the only people in her home, and she thought that they had been going through her personal property.

Fraudulent RentOn Feb. 27, a 24-year-old woman living on West 107th Street made a deal to sublet her apartment. The lessor sent the woman five checks totaling $9,635, considerably more than the price she was asking for the apartment. So the woman withdrew $4,794 from her own bank account to return the difference to the lessor. When she went to purchase something online sometime later, she discovered that her bank account had been closed. She went to her bank, where she was informed that the five checks she had received were fraudulent.

Bad NeighborsOn Feb. 21, a 23-year-old woman returned home from shopping. She had bought so much that she could not carry all her bags and left some of them by the elevator area in her building at 169 Manhattan Avenue. When she returned to pick up the bags by the elevator, they, along with merchandize valued at $2,780, were gone. She told police she believes the thief lives in her building. The items stolen included a Gucci handbag valued at $853, a Python bag worth $754, Gucci shoes priced at $384, Roger Vivier shoes tagged at $375, Michael Kors clothing priced at $171, a Prada bag valued at $143, and Elizabeth Arden skincare products worth $100.

Mad MedOne man wanted his prescription — BAD! In the early morning of Feb. 26, a 29-year-old man was attempting to fill his prescription in the CVS store at 540 Amsterdam Ave. when the pharmacist informed him that he could not fill the prescription until he spoke with the man’s doctor. This answer did not sit well with the man, who jumped the pharmacy counter, took his prescription back, and smashed the pharmacy computer, breaking the computer stand. The man then fled and could not be found.