Crime Watch

BY JERRY DANZIG

Construction AbductionThe old stash-the-treasure-under-the-bed trick proved a costly mistake for an Upper West Side resident recently. A 60-year-old woman living on West 105th Street told police she stowed valuable jewelry, including a pair of 2-carat diamond stud earrings, under her bed on March 5, ahead of construction in her apartment. They were missing a month later, after the construction had ended. She told police that many people had been in her apartment working on the construction, but she had not seen anyone removing the valuables. The stud earrings are $21,000. A gold hoop diamond clip priced at $1,500 also went missing.

Mail AssailHere is another incident of a counterfeiter intercepting and altering mailed checks. On April 6, a 74-year-old man living on West End Avenue called his bank to report fraudulent charges on his account. Intended of checks written out for $15,000 and another for $9,000, totaling $24,000, never received them but the checks were nevertheless cashed.

No-Account New AccountsOn Monday, March 28, a 52-year-old woman living on Central Park West was checking her bank statement when she noticed that an unknown person had been using her account information to open new accounts. The woman told police she had never been a victim of ID theft, nor had she given permission to anyone to use her account. She also said the fraud department of Chase Bank was conducting an investigation into the matter. The amount stolen came to $5,000.

Party DuperAt 6 p.m. on Saturday, February 20, Tamara Moody booked a party at Carmine’s Broadway Feast, headquartered at 1501 Broadway. She put down a $400 deposit using her credit card. After the party on Friday, March 4, she paid the final balance of $4,610.49 with what turned out to be a fraudulent credit card. The victim told police that Moody has knowledge of the outstanding balance and has still refused to pay.

Pushing BackA young man thwarted a mugging with a good push. At 1:30 a.m. on Wednesday, April 6, a 28-year-old man was approached by a man, later identified as 48-year-old Rodney Wade, with a knife in front of 677 West End Ave. “You look like a guy who has money!” The younger man told police he pushed Wade to escape and the would-be mugger then ran away. Wade was stopped during a police canvass and positively identified by the victim at the arrest location. Wade was arrested and charged with robbery.