Crime Watch

BY JERRY DANZIG

More ID TheftThe cost of ID theft keeps mounting. At noon on Thursday, Oct. 1, a 59-year-old man East 64th Street resident was informed by Sotheby’s that he had made a purchase valued at $106,000. He replied that he had not. Later, he was checking his business account and further discovered that an unknown person had removed more than $1 million over several unauthorized transactions. A police investigation is ongoing.

Fraud ArrestA young man was arrested for fraud. At 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 2, a 25-year-old man entered a high-end Madison Avenue department store and applied for the store’s credit card. He was approved and immediately bought two pairs of shoes and one handbag totaling $9,000. The store suspected something was amiss, however, and held the shopper until police could or arrive to investigate. It was discovered that the young man had used forged ID documents to apply for the account, and he was arrested and charged with grand larceny, ID theft and possession of a fraudulent instrument.

Edward Scissorhands?New York’s finest and bravest both interceded to thwart a burglary. On Sunday, Oct. 4 at 1140 a.m., a 54-year-old woman was helping a neighbor when a 50-year-old man entered the lobby of their building on 84th Street between Lexington and Third Avenues and made off with the woman’s handbag. The woman called 911, and some nearby firefighters attempted to stop the perpetrator, but he held them off with a pair of scissors before fleeing into the subway at 86th Street and Lexington Avenue. Police managed to catch up with the man, arrested him and charged him with burglary, possessing stolen property, and menacing. The woman’s handbag was recovered.

Expensive EveningOne young man had an unusual evening. On Saturday, Sept. 12, a 25-year-old male Upper East Side resident was downtown “enjoying himself” after consuming a quantity of beverages at a nightclub, when he got into a black livery cab at 2 a.m. to take him home. He passed out in the livery, and when he woke up at 3 a.m., he found he was now riding in a yellow cab and was no longer in possession of his iPhone, wallet, or Richard Mille watch valued at $12,000. Later he also learned that someone had tried to withdraw $500 in cash using his debit card at an HSBC location but had been denied. The total tab for the young man’s evening out came to $13,500.

Lipstick LarcenyA young woman can never have too much lipstick apparently. At 7 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 3, a loss prevention employee at a department store on Lexington Avenue between 59th and 60th Streets saw a 21-year-old woman remove property from a display and conceal it in her coat pocket before trying to leave the store. Security personnel intercepted and held her for police, who arrested her and charged her with grand larceny. She attempted to make off with 37 YSL lipsticks valued at $1,300.