Crime Watch

BY MARIA ROCHA-BUSCHEL

Man arrested for aggressive anti-gay remarksPolice arrested a 37-year-old man for aggravated harassment inside the lobby of 520 West 43rd St. early on Saturday, Dec. 19. Two men were sitting in the lobby waiting for their friend when the suspect approached them and started to make anti-gay remarks. The victims said that he told them their lifestyle was wrong. The suspect put his hand in their face and said, “I’ll find your mother and have her cut up.” He also said, “I choke people like you in Afghanistan, choke them to death.” He also said that if they were outside, he would “beat the sh— out of” them. The victims told police that the remarks caused them to fear for their safety and they felt they were being targeted because of their sexual orientation. Police said that video of the incident is available.

Assault at barA woman told police she was assaulted inside Bathtub Gin at 132 Ninth Ave. early Sunday morning. She told officers that a woman she didn’t know punched her in the face, causing minor swelling and bleeding to her lower lip. She told police that the incident occurred while she was signing her bill at the bar. She said that the woman told her to “stop flirting with my boyfriend.”

Man assaulted after being rear-endedA 55-year-old man reported that he was assaulted after he was in a car accident at the northeast corner of 10th Avenue and West 38th Street at 7 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 18. He told police that the suspect rear-ended his vehicle and, after a brief argument, the suspect punched the victim in the face multiple times, causing swelling and redness. The victim said that the suspect fled the scene.

Woman harassed by coworkerA 22-year-old employee of Le Pain Quotidien at 52 Ninth Ave. told police that a coworker has been harassing her. She told officers on Saturday, Dec. 19, that he sent her threatening texts stating in substance, “watch what happens, you’ll regret this.” She told police that he also called her a slut and a bitch, and that the texts cause her annoyance and alarm.

Rash of cellphone theftsA 23-year-old woman told police that her phone was stolen while she was at the northwest corner of 11th Avenue and West 40th Street Friday, Dec. 18 at 12:40 a.m. She reported that she handed her iPhone 6 to the suspect because he asked her if he could make a phone call, but he instead ran away with the phone. The woman said that she was intoxicated at the time so she did not have a description of the man.

On the early morning of Saturday, Dec. 19, a 19-year-old woman reported that her phone was stolen from the bathroom inside 453 West 17th St. 3 a.m. She told police that she left the restroom without her cellphone, which she had placed on top of a counter by the stall that she used. When she went back for the phone, she found that it wasn’t there and her phone case was recovered from the trash can.

And late that night, 40-year-old man told police his phone was stolen while he was inside adult video store Blue at 206 Eighth Ave. He told police that he was in a booth at the store and left his phone on the seat. He left the booth briefly and when he turned to go back inside, he noticed that his phone had been taken.