Crime Watch

BY JERRY DANZIG

Upstanding BystanderA bystander helped police nab a shoplifter recently. At 2 p.m. on Feb. 13, a 41-year-old man entered the Ralph Lauren Eyewear store at 811 Madison Ave. and took seven pairs of Polos sunglasse from a display and left without paying. An employee from the store followed the shoplifter out into the street, where a bystander grabbed the man and held him until police officers arrived and arrested him on charges of grand larceny. The sunglasses were given a total value of $1,266.

Santander OffenderPolice took down an ID thief. At 12:28 p.m. on Feb. 16, a 26-year-old man entered the Santander Bank at 1062 Third Ave. and attempted to make a cash transaction. He had recently opened an account online, depositing $25,000. When he tried to make the cash transaction at the bank, however, the institution’s fraud investigation unit declined the transaction, claiming that the man had used fake IDs to open the account. Police arrived and found the suspect in possession of two fraudulent IDs. He was arrested on charges of grand larceny ID theft, and possession of forged instruments.

Caught Red-Hot-HandedA ticket counterfeiter was put out of business by undercover police officers. At 3:18 p.m. on Feb. 16, plainclothes officers posing as customers met with a 17-year-old man from the Bronx outside 1261 Lexington Ave. to purchase tickets to see the Red Hot Chili Peppers at Madison Square Garden. When the transaction was concluded, the officers arrested the young man, as the tickets were counterfeit. He was charged with petty larceny and possession of forged instruments.

Countering CounterfeitingA young woman was arrested at Bloomingdale’s after attempting to purchase merchandise with counterfeit money. At 9 p.m. on Feb. 16, a 17-year-old woman from Brooklyn paid for a selection of merchandise using 12 counterfeit $100 bills. She was apprehended and charged with 12 counts of forgery, petty larceny and possession of marijuana. The items she tried to buy included a Bailey44 dress valued at $218, a Kelly top priced at $128, a pair of Joe’s Jeans worth $189, a velvet shirt priced at 139, an aqua top priced at $48, a Joy top tagged at $48, another aqua top priced at $118, and an aqua dress worth $64, making a total of $1,152.

Package StealPolice busted a lowlife responsible for stealing packages in a building’s lobby. At 6 p.m. on Feb. 13, a building resident became suspicious of a 41-year-old man who dropped a package in the lobby of 332 East 74th St. The resident followed the package-dropper and noticed that he attempted unsuccessfully to gain entrance to other buildings on First Avenue. The resident called 911, and police apprehended the man with the package outside 77 Lexington Ave. Officers found he was in possession of packages belonging to the resident and several others. The man was arrested on charges of burglary, criminal possession of stolen property and possession of a hypodermic.