Crime Watch

BY JERRY DANZIG

Putting the Con in Con EdisonA local business got ripped off by a scammer who had the firm’s account number. At 2 p.m. on Saturday, September 30, a 38-year-old man working for Broadstone Bar & Kitchen at 88 Broad Street received a phone call from a man named Lucas who claimed to be representing Con Edison. He said he was calling to collect a bill, and indeed he had the company’s correct account number. The employee followed the caller’s instructions and used a MoneyPak to pay the amount supposedly owed, $2,905. When the employee later called Lucas’s number back, he was told, “You’ve been scammed, and we will keep scamming.”

Real Robberies — Simulated GunsThe weapon of choice for bad guys this October seems to be a simulated gun. In the first incident, which took place at 11:50 p.m. on Monday, October 2, a 55-year-old man was approached from behind in the rear of 99 Battery Place by an unknown man who said, “Give me your wallet; I have a gun.” The thief then chased the victim up to Battery Place before turning around and fleeing eastbound on Third Place. The robber did not actually display a weapon, and police were unable to find him in the area. No value was stated for the stolen wallet or its contents.

In a second simulated-gun incident, at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, October 6, a young male teenager from Staten Island met three buyers at the southwest corner of Battery Place and Greenwich Street intending to sell his bicycle. One of the purported buyers, though, claimed he had a gun in his pocket and told the boy to get off his bike. The three thugs then took the two-wheeler and took off. Police couldn’t find the thugs or the stolen bicycle in the vicinity. The stolen bicycle was an SE valued at $700.

Locker LootingOne hopes that a downtown gym-goer has a full-replacement-value insurance policy. At 4:25 p.m. on Monday, October 2, a 37-year-old woman left her belongings in an unsecured locker inside the Equinox facility at 225 Liberty Street. When she returned to the locker, several of her personal items were missing, including a diamond day stamp chronograph watch, a crossover cuff bracelet with diamonds, a sterling silver and gold jewelry piece with a purple amethyst and a diamond ring, all of which was valued at a total $4,029.

ID Thief ArrestedA thief overplayed her hand with someone else’s account number. At 7 p.m. on Thursday, October 5, a 25-year-old woman entered the Sax Fifth Avenue store at 250 Vesey Street and purchased more than $6,000 worth of items using a VIP membership account. The woman, later identified as Alicia McLaughlin, gave store personnel a Connecticut ID bearing the name Jane Weitzman and made her purchase using an account lookup. Store personnel contacted the real account holder, however, and she stated that it was not her making the purchase. The items stolen included a $939 jacket, a $1,485 backpack, and another jacket, this one priced at $3,742, making a total stolen of $6,166. McLaughlin was arrested the same day and charged with grand larceny.