Crime Watch

BY JERRY DANZIG

Handy but Not So DandySometime between 9:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Aug. 26, items of property were taken from a Gold Street resident. The victim told police that she had left her front door open for a cleaning service, whose workers were scheduled for 3 p.m. When she returned at 6, the rug in her apartment had been turned over, but cleaning had not been completed and the front door was locked. The workers usually locked the front door on their way out. The items stolen included a Chanel handbag valued at $5,800, a Gucci handbag priced at $900, and a Mansur Gavriel bag costing $550.

Swooped and SwipedIt sounds as if one purse snatcher was working faster than the speed of light. At 11:30 a.m. on Friday, August 26, a 24-year-old woman was walking by the northwest corner of South and Beekman Streets when someone snatched her Louis Vuitton purse. She told police that it happened so quickly she did not get a good look at the thief. Police searched the area but could not locate the thief or the victim’s stolen property. The items taken included a black-and-silver bag valued at $4,300, a wallet priced at $75, a driver’s license, and various credit and debit cards.

Bat-Wielding Thug ArrestedPolice took one violent mugger off the streets. At 10:40 p.m. on Aug. 25, a 27-year-old man allegedly struck a 35-year-old man in the head with a baseball bat at the northeast corner of Broad and South William Streets, cutting his left eye, police said. The man also had cell phone taken. Police soon swept the neighborhood, however, and the victim was able to identify his assailant and recover his cell phone. The victim was treated by emergency medical services and taken to New York Downtown Hospital. Ben Brown was arrested on robbery charges later that day in connection with the incident.

IncompleteFrom 7:30 to 9 p.m. on Aug. 24, a 32-year-old man was working out in the CompleteBody Gym at 10 Hanover Square. When he returned to his locked locker, his duffel bag was missing. Inside the bag was a wallet with his ID and credit cards, which later showed unauthorized usage at a Chipotle location. He subsequently canceled all his credit cards. The items stolen were a duffel bag and other items, whose value he put at $775.

Schilling ShellackingA pair of thieves had more on their mind than wiener schnitzel when they entered an Austrian restaurant unlawfully. At 11:02 p.m. on Aug. 29, two 25-year-old men entered the Schilling restaurant at 109 Washington St. and removed an employee’s belongings, including sunglasses, headphones and a bike lock worth a total of $270, after the restaurant closed. The front door was unlocked at the time. Police searched the neighborhood but failed to locate the thieves or the stolen belongings.