Crime Watch

BY JERRY DANZIG

Crust BustA thief was arrested after grabbing the wrong kind of bread at a Panera store. On Aug. 30, a woman in buying bread at the Panera store at 120 East 86th St. had her purse grabbed by man in his mid to late 30s. After a brief struggle, the robber fled the location but was arrested later after he was positively identified from the store video. The items stolen and recovered were $200 in cash, a wristlet wallet valued at $200, and two credit cards. Police did not identify the man.

Tree MuggerFile this story under peculiar street crimes. At 6 p.m. on Sept. 2, a man broke a cement planter and destroyed the roots of a tree outside 31 E. 79th St., causing some $1,000 worth of damage.

Lunging LugsTwo of three crooks were arrested after a looting spree at a local Duane Reade. On the morning of Sept. 5, two young men, aged 16 and 19, along with a male accomplice in his mid-20s, entered the Duane Reade store at 1356 Lexington Ave. took merchandise from store shelves and put them into bags before leaving . A female store employee tried to stop the trio, but one or more of them lunged at her in a menacing manner. The items stolen included $300 worth of candy, body care products valued at $663, medicines costing $135 and electronics tagged at $35, making a total of $1,134. The two younger men were arrested later that day and charged with robbery.

Labor Day LarcenyWhen construction workers are at play, construction burglars may have their day. Sometime between 1:30 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 2 and 8 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 6, unknown perpetrators entered a construction site on East 76th Street between Madison and Park Avenues and made off with construction tools valued at $2,612.

rOBBERS ON Two-WheelSPedestrians already fear being hit by bicyclists; now they have to fear being robbed by them as well. At 12:37 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 9, a 30-year-old woman was walking and talking on her cell phone at Third Avenue and East 86th Street when a man riding a bicycle swooped by and snatched her phone. The robber then rejoined three other bicyclists, and the foursome took off into the night. The stolen cell was an iPhone 6S valued at $500.