Crime Watch

BY JERRY DANZIG

Drug Stores Offer Pain RELIEFPolice are on the lookout for a Duane Reade employee who assaulted a customer and stole his phone. At 11:55 p.m. on Wednesday, March 1, a 29-year-old man was having a verbal dispute with the manager of the Reade location at 40 Wall Street. A male employee interceded, grabbing the customer’s cell phone and walking out the door, telling the customer that if he wanted his phone back he should come outside. Apparently the customer went outside but then re-entered the store, where he was attacked by the same employee, who punched him several times. The police account said the man blacked out twice. The employee then fled the location on foot in an unknown direction with the customer’s cell phone.

Nicotine NickedThe same Duane Reade store at 40 Wall Street was the scene of another violent incident in recent weeks, although this time an employee wasn’t the aggressor. At 5:50 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 26, two men approached a female employee after entering the store through the Pine Street entrance. One of the men told the woman that his accomplice had a firearm and “You don’t want anything to happen to your kid.” The man then jumped over the swing gate at the counter and began grabbing cigarettes off the shelves before both men left the store with nearly $1,000 worth of cigarettes and lighters.

No TLC HereTwo men were arrested were arrested on robbery charges after stealing a man’s cell phone. At 4:20 a.m. on Friday, March 3, the two men, later identified as Anthony Bowen-Allen, 29, and Antoine Gregg, 30, entered a man’s vehicle on Canal Street and took the driver’s phone. One of the men tried to hold the driver down and struck him in the face, while his accomplice then grabbed the driver’s phone, saying he was a TLC police officer. Both fled eastbound on Canal Street toward Broadway. Police later caught up with Bowen-Allen and Gregg.

Unfair FareAt 3 p.m. on Tuesday, February 28, a taxi passenger simulated a firearm and told the 26-year-old female cab driver, “Just act like nothing is happening; give me your money.” The robbery took place in front of 291 Broadway, and the passenger was a street hail the driver had picked up at 1000 Gunhill Road in the Bronx. The cabbie gave the passenger all her money, and the robber then fled on foot. The total stolen came to $4,750 in cash.