Crime Watch

BY JERRY DANZIG

Swiss MissA Swiss visitor discovered the hard way that New York thieves strike like clockwork. At 2:50 p.m. on Dec. 12, a 25-year-old man from Rothenburg, Switzerland, was waiting for a southbound C train in the Chambers Street World Trade Center station. He placed his backpack, containing several items, on the bench next to him, and when the train arrived 10 minutes later, his pack was missing. The items stolen included a MacBook Air valued at $1,300, a GoPro Hero 4 camera priced at $450, a TomTom GPS tagged at $400, a Sony Cybershot camera worth $350, a JBL speaker valued at $200, a WD Elements external hard drive priced at $100, along with a Swiss passport, jacket, shirt, and bag, totaling $3,100 in all.

Bad TastePolice suspect that a cash theft from a restaurant was an inside job. Sometime between the hours of 4 p.m. and 11 p.m. on Dec. 11, someone removed $1,500 from the store register and safe inside Sabor de Mexico on Nassau Street. Apparently, only four employees were working in the eatery that day, and only one had access to the safe.

Mink StinkOne person might have had an pricey gift in mind but insufficient funds with which to purchase it. A man removed a valuable fur from a display in the Vera Wang store on Mercer Street during store hours on Dec. 16. Police searched the area but could not locate the thief or the missing merchandise. The item stolen was a white mink coat valued at $4,950.

Tool JackA 49-year-old man left his work backpack and tools inside the Citibank located at 388 Greenwich St. on Dec. 15. When he returned to work the next morning, he discovered that his backpack and tools were missing. He told police that a night shift had been working at the location. The items stolen included a backpack filled with Klein tools valued at $700, punchdown tools and blades priced at $225, a Warsaw hammer worth $200, along with side cutters, screwdrivers, needle-nose pliers, a tape measure, splicing tools, a shearing knife, and a keyhole saw, making a total haul of $1,330.

Docked and SockedA 31-year-old woman docked her Citi Bike at the Franklin Street and West Broadway station on Dec. 15. Four hours later, she received an e-mail from Citi Bike stating that the vehicle had not been returned. The woman went back to the stand and confirmed that the bike was missing. Fortunately, Citi Bike acknowledged later that an error had occurred when the bike was docked, and the two-wheeler did not lock properly. The missing Citi Bike was valued at $1,200.