Crime Watch

BY JERRY Danzig

Conning, Mother!At 10:55 p.m. on Saturday, July 14, three young teenage boys were soliciting donations near Second Avenue and 70th Street for a basketball team, “the Harlem Rockets,” that, it turns out, is entirely fictitious. Police arrested the trio on a charge of fraudulent accosting. It turns out the trio may have had an adult ringleader, according to police accounts. Sometime after 1:01 p.m. on Wednesday, July 18, the same three boys got out of a taxi outside the Best Buy store at 1280 Lexington Ave. As they got out of the cab one of the boys, a 13-year-old, took the cabbie’s wallet from the taxi’s center console. The cabbie, a 30-year-old man, called 911 and police arrived on the scene. Officers went into the store and couldn’t find the taxi driver’s wallet, but the cabbie was able to identify the three boys, who had come to meet one of the boys’ mother, a 42-year-old woman who was not otherwise identified. It was then discovered that the woman had tried to use a stolen credit card to purchase merchandise inside the store. The three boys and the mother were arrested on charges of grand larceny.

DUI arrestPolice arrested an intoxicated wrong-way driver before he could injure himself or others. At 3:30 a.m. on Sunday, July 15, a 29-year-old man from Brooklyn was driving a black 2003 Chevrolet Trailblazer southbound on the northbound service road of the FDR Drive at East 92nd Street. Police pulled the man over and discovered that he was exhibiting signs of intoxication, including bloodshot eyes, slurred speech, alcohol on his breath, and unsteadiness on his feet. He refused to take a breathalyzer test and was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated, aggravated unlicensed operation of a vehicle and a license violation.

Vans GoneTwo commercial vans disappeared on the same afternoon. At 11 a.m. on Friday, July 20, a 58-year-old man working for Devo Fire Protection parked his 2003 White Ford Econoline van with New York plates outside 825 Fifth Avenue. When he returned at 4 p.m., the van was gone even though he still had the key. Police were unable to locate the vehicle in the neighborhood.

At 12:30 p.m. the same day a 43-year-old man parked his black Ford E350 van on the northeast corner of Third Avenue and 68th Street. When he returned at 5:30 p.m. his vehicle was missing. He too had the vehicle’s keys in his possession.

Just a Minute!One young woman’s backpack disappeared faster than a New York minute recently. At 7 p.m. on Thursday, July 19, a 26-year-old woman left her backpack unattended in the Starbucks at 245 East 80th Street. When she returned for the bag just one minute later it was gone along with its contents, a tablet valued at $800, a MetroCard worth $121, a Burton bag tagged at $45, a Fossil wallet priced at $35, $20 in cash, plus ID and credit cards.