Crime Watch

Wooster ShearA visitor from New Hampshire had his car stolen faster than in a New York minute. At 7:15 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 5, a 51-year-old man from Peterborough, parked his light blue 2012 Toyota Prius with electronics and other items inside in front of 35 Wooster St. When he returned to the car to retrieve his wallet about 30 minutes later, the vehicle was gone. There was no broken glass at the scene. Police searched the area but could not locate the missing vehicle or the property inside the car. Inside the Prius, which is valued at $14,000, were a MacBook Pro priced at $4,000, clothes worth $4,000, $2,500 in cash, 20 harmonicas valued at $450, portable speakers worth $250, an acoustic guitar tagged at $150 and a cooler priced at $100, making a total heist of $25,450. The car was bearing New Hampshire plates 31438.

And two days later, a man had his car broken nearby. Just after midnight on Sunday, Feb. 7, a 20-year-old man parked his black 2015 Infiniti Q 40 in front of 15 Wooster St. When he returned at 4 a.m., the rear passenger’s-side window had been broken and his belongings, including a Louis Vuitton bag valued at $1,500, a Michael Kors bag worth $700, a Burberry jacket priced at $400, a Michael Kors wallet tagged at $300, along with a New York State driver’s license and various debit cards, had been taken.

Photo LootA photographer had nearly $4,000 of equipment stolen as he worked an early morning job on Feb. 6. The man had parked his black 2011 Lexus RX in front of 6 Greene St. before heading off to make pictures at the Haus nightclub nearby. When he returned at 3:15 a.m., the rear passenger’s-side window had been broken and a Blackmagic production camera, a brown leather jacket, a Pentax 50 mm 1.4 lens, an Ikan monitor, and an SSD drive, representing a total value of $3,749, were missing.

Cheeto BanditoA shoplifter resorted to violence as he tried to steal two bags of chips from a Spring Street shop. At 7:14 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 3, a 25-year-old man entered the Spring Iconic Sweet store at 203 Spring St., removed merchandise from a store rack and tried to leave the store without paying. A 39-year-old male store employee stopped the man, at which time the suspect hit the employee in his left leg, causing substantial pain and a cut to his hand. The employee told police that the suspect appeared to be accompanied by a woman who stepped outside during the incident. The suspect then ran west on Spring. Police searched the area but could not locate the robber or the stolen goods. The items stolen were two packs of Cheetos.

Antisocial MediaThere apparently are perils to using social media. Just after midnight on Saturday, Feb. 6, a 30-year-old man was checking Facebook on his cell phone inside 200 Broadway when an unknown man grabbed the phone and ran into the Fulton Street subway station. A search of the area failed to turn up the thief or the stolen phone. The snatched cell was a Samsung Galaxy S valued at $100.