Crime Watch

BY JERRY DANZIG

Jaeger RaidersIf police have their way, two thieves will be trading in fancy wristwatches for sturdy handcuffs. At 10:40 a.m. on Nov. 21, two men entered the Jaeger-Le Coultre store at 701 Madison Avenue. One man held a handgun on a security guard near the door while his accomplice smashed a glass display case with a hammer. The two made off with six watches totaling an eye-opening $355,400.

Clod BarrowOne robber had a very busy but not at all lucrative day recently. At 3:20 p.m. on Dec. 5, a man in his late 30s or early 40s entered the Chase Bank at 1003 Lexington Ave. and passed a note to a teller demanding a few thousand dollars in cash. Instead of complying with the request, the teller pushed the alarm button, causing the robber to panic and flee. Then at 3:30 p.m. the man entered the HSBC bank at 1340 Third Ave. and passed a similar note to teller there. Once again he fled the location with no loot. Police believe the same man had already hit five banks in the Midtown South precinct that morning without success.

CanetankerousExpensive and highly portable sunglasses continue to lure shoplifters. At 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 8, two men in their mid-40s, one of them carrying a cane, went into the Sunglass Hut at 1023 Third Ave. and took several pairs of sunglasses off display shelves before exiting the store. The two got away with merchandise valued at $2,907.

Good NeighborA neighbor came to the rescue of a mugging victim. At 11 p.m. on Dec. 2, a 54-year-old woman entered the vestibule of her residence on East 67th Street close to Central Park when a man in his 50s came in behind her and punched her hard in the face before tugging on her purse, demanding that she hand it over. One of her neighbors, a 40-year-old man, heard the commotion from his apartment and came down to the vestibule to check it out. At this, the thug ran away, getting only the victim’s LG cell phone. The victim did, however, suffer severe injuries to her face.

Work JerkSometimes it isn’t the customer shoplifting in a fancy store. Sometime before 1:50 p.m. on Dec. 8, a loss-prevention employee at Barney’s 660 Madison Ave. store observed a 27-year-old male employee taking two wallets and a belt from a display case and securing them around his waist. When the employee attempted to leave the store without paying for the items, he was detained, searched, found with the merchandise on his person, and arrested for grand larceny. The items he tried to steal were a Valentino belt valued at $229 and two Gucci wallets valued at $840, making a total of $1,069.