Cops Search for Deadly Hit-and-Run Driver
Police report that at 2 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 31, a white SUV was traveling northbound on the FDR Drive near East 84th Street when it struck a vehicle, sending it into two lanes of traffic and hitting a third and fourth vehicle in a nasty pileup. One of the passengers in a 2001 Toyota, a 31-year-old man whom police did not identify, was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead there. The driver of the SUV fled the scene, and police said that the investigation is ongoing.

Gloved Robbery Pattern
Police have identified a pattern of crimes in which one or two perpetrators, both described as middle-aged black men, enter a commercial establishment and demand money or goods at gunpoint while wearing latex gloves. In one incident on the Upper East Side, a lone man entered a drugstore and forced the pharmacist to hand over oxycontin and oxycodone. In other occurrences, the man, once with an accomplice, according to police, entered Metro PCS locations and demanded cash.

Front Door Thief
In three separate incidences on the Upper East Side over the past two months, an unknown suspect broke into commercial establishments by cutting the front gate and breaking the glass on the front doors. He then made off with cash from the registers.

Two-Wheeled Phone Snatch
Last Saturday and Sunday, police believe the same perpetrator committed the same crime at almost the same location two days in a row. A man on a bike rode up behind his victims, one on First Avenue near East 91st Street and one on East 92nd Street, and grabbed their iPhones before cycling away out of sight.

Assault by Head
Late Sunday night, a man was escorted out of an Upper East Side bar by what he said were the bar’s employees. When he got outside, an unknown man headbutted him, causing a bloody nose. The owner of the bar told police that the headbutter was not one of his employees; it is unclear who, exactly, the mysterious assailant was.

Thief Wants Clear Skin
Early in the morning on Monday, Jan. 30, employees at a local chain drugstore spied a man, whom they said has stolen from their location previously, stuffing skin care products into his pockets. The man attempted to leave the store, setting off the security alarms but continuing to walk out. Employees followed him and questioned him, but the man picked up his pace. The intrepid employees called 911 and trailed the suspect until police caught up with him. Upon questioning, he admitted that he did not pay for the items. Police said the total haul was worth $112.70 and included Eucerin Calming Crème, Aveeno foaming lotion cleanser and Neutrogena body wash.

Precinct Community Council Meeting
The 19th Precinct Community Council will hold its monthly meeting Monday, Feb. 6 at 7 p.m. on the third floor of the station house, 153 E. 67th St. Refreshments will be served and Patricia O’Connor, deputy bureau chief of the cyber crime and identity theft unit, will be the guest speaker. All are welcome.

Very Sticky Fingers
Police from the 19th Precinct arrested a man on burglary charges this week, closing a borough-wide pattern. The man was discovered inside a fast-food donut shop in the early morning, before the store opened, with a screwdriver and flashlight (what the cops classify as burglary tools) in his possession. He supposedly gained entrance through the back of the store. Police suspect that the man is also responsible for a series of similar robberies hitting fast-food joints around Manhattan. Each time, the man would sneak into the establishment in the early morning hours and make off with whatever cash from registers and tip pools, as well as payroll checks, in one instance, he could find. Luckily, though, he left the donuts alone.

Pedestrian Accidents Up
The 19th Precinct reminds residents to exercise caution when crossing streets, especially considering the uptick in pedestrian-vehicle accidents. There was a 19.6 percent spike in 2011 compared with incidences in 2010, and for the month of January so far, there have been 7 percent more pedestrian accidents than were reported last year by this time. Police say that the accidents are often the fault of the person on the street, not in the car. They caution people to stay aware of their surroundings and unplug from headphones and other electronic devices when crossing streets. They also point out that jaywalking only increases traffic congestion as drivers brake for errant crossers, resulting in more aggressive driving that puts others at risk.

Keep Your Eyes on the Bag
One of the most common crimes on the Upper East Side continues to be a problem as overly trusting residents plop their bags down on coffee shop tables and wander away to order extra large skim mochas, surprised to find their wallets, keys, laptops, phones or entire bags missing upon their return. A woman at a popular coffee chain reported her wallet missing last week around 10:30 p.m. after she left her bag on the table unattended.

Thwarted Bank Scam
Police arrested a man suspected of using his position as an employee of a bank to steal the identifying information of a customer and attempting to use it to withdraw money from the intended victim’s account. The police were able to intervene before he made off with any dough, and the man whose information he used was notified of the possible identity theft.

Unsatisfied Customer
After enjoying drinks and paying in cash at an Upper East Side nightclub on Monday, a woman began throwing bottles at the bar’s plate glass window, smashing it to pieces and fleeing the scene. The window will cost $3,000 to replace, and the bar so far has no way of identifying the woman.

Clean Theft
The owner of a local dry cleaner came into his store last Saturday morning to find the glass on his front door shattered. There was also $200 missing from the register.

Assault with a Tasty Weapon
While sitting in a bar innocently sharing drinks with friends late on a Saturday night, a woman was suddenly beaned with a plastic condiment holder. The victim and her friend said an unknown man threw the container in her direction and fled the scene. The bar’s manager said that the man might have been a member of a party going on that night, but could not identify him.

Valiant Citizen Nabs Purse Snatcher
A woman was walking on East 73rd Street around 10 p.m. when a man came toward her, throwing his shoulder into hers to knock her off balance and swipe her pocketbook. The thief ran for the hills but didn’t get very far, as an ordinary citizen grabbed and held the suspect until police arrived to make an arrest. The stolen bag was returned to its rightful owner.

Street Vendors Victimized
A man reported his $800 Honda generator stolen from his hot dog cart parked on Lexington Avenue.
On Second Avenue, a man left the counter of his newsstand when two women in front of it distracted him, he said. While his back was turned, a man crept behind the register and removed two cash drawers, making off with $2,300.

Old-Fashioned Smash-and-Grab
In what police have identified as a citywide pattern after a similar incident downtown, a 6-foot-tall man wearing a white or tan jacket smashed the storefront window of a Madison Avenue boutique with a cobblestone early last Wednesday morning. He took 16 leather jackets and three T-shirts, at a total value of $16,995, then got away. The cost of replacing the plate-glass window, according to the store, is $3,000.

Unsuspecting New Englander Robbed
A woman from Massachusetts parked her car on East 76th Street last Wednesday, not realizing until later that she may have left it unlocked. When she returned to check, there was not a scratch on the vehicle but her $100 GPS system was missing from the dashboard and a $300 laptop was gone from the trunk.

No Harmony for
Assaulted DJ
A DJ was loading his equipment into a nightclub around 10:30 p.m. last Sunday when he asked an unknown man to remove his belongings that were in the way. The man responded by punching the unsuspecting DJ in the arm and back, then fleeing the scene.

Man Indicted for
Upper East Side Burglaries
Luis Torres, 50, was indicted last week for a string of burglaries targeting homes on the Upper East Side, Upper West Side and in Midtown. Police discovered large quantities of jewelry and electronics, as well as over 100 keys and cards, in Torres’ apartment upon his arrest. Torres is charged with three counts of burglary in the second degree.

Hotel Thief Admits to High-End Heists
After admitting to stealing cash, jewelry, accessories and electronics from guests at Jumeirah Essex House, the Plaza Hotel, St. Regis Hotel and the London NYC Hotel, James Bennett, 45, pleaded guilty to four counts of burglary in the second degree and one count of grand larceny in the second degree last week. He confessed to attempting to steal employees’ paychecks from the London NYC Hotel before being spotted, then later that day swiping goods from the Plaza and St. Regis. He had previously stolen a Chopard watch and Cartier sunglasses from Jumeirah Essex House.
“Burglary victims lose more than their money, valuables and prized possessions—they also lose their sense of security in their own homes,” said District Attorney Cyrus Vance in a statement. “Thanks to excellent police work and aggressive prosecution, offenders who prey upon New Yorkers are taken off the streets.”

Grand Larceny by Fake Grandson
An Upper East Side woman fell prey to a heartless fraudster last week when he called pretending to be her grandson in trouble. The perpetrator said he was in jail in Mexico and needed $2,700 to get out. The panicked woman wired $2,500 (the transaction limit) through American Express to the specified account, and the swindler had the nerve to call back and request an additional $1,700, which did not go through after American Express flagged it as possibly fraudulent. When the woman called her grandson two days later, she discovered that he had been in bed with the flu, nowhere near Mexico or the missing money.

Thief Strikes Where God Watches
A woman left her $300 Android phone in the back pew of The Church of St. Monica on East 79th Street while she was coordinating a wedding there, only to find it had been swiped when she went to retrieve it.

Cash is Still King
for Robbers
A pair of guests at The Surrey Hotel left $1,900 and 700 euro, all in cash, in their room safe, but forgot to lock it. They returned to their room to find it missing.

Local Crime Sprees
Police caution residents to be aware of a crime pattern that began on the Upper East Side and was just recently classified as citywide after an identical incident occured downtown. A man and woman approach victims on the street; the man grabs the target in a chokehold while the woman sprays the victim in the face with pepper spray or Mace before the duo makes off with the blinded victim’s belongings. The iPhone nabbers are also still at large, robbing Apple lovers at gunpoint on the street.

Beware the ATM
Federal investigators have recently identified three ATM locations on the Upper East Side that have been hit by card-skimming devices. The devices look identical to the normal ATM card intake and keypad and are placed over the original parts, making them difficult to detect. The devices read the card’s information and take video of the corresponding PIN as it’s punched into the keypad, allowing the perpetrators to create replica cards and empty victims’ bank accounts. Police recommend shielding ATM keypads with one hand while entering PINs to thwart this scam.

Community Council Meetings
The 19th Precinct Community Council meets the first Monday of every month at 7 p.m. at the precinct house, 153 E. 67th St. All are welcome.

Safe Not So Safe
A bartender closed up shop at a popular watering hole on Columbus Avenue Dec. 15 and put the night’s earnings in a safe. When the manager opened the safe later the next morning, the money—roughly $3,000—was gone. Surveillance video showed another employee had entered the office overnight and left a few minutes later. That employee has since disappeared and no one knows where he is.

Rooftop Burglary
Some college roommates who live in an apartment on 73rd Street came home after work and school Dec. 16 to discover that their apartment had been trashed and more than $6,500 in goods had been stolen, including three Macbooks, a guitar, Canon DSLR camera and multiple amplifiers and other music-making equipment.

Police suspect the criminals came over the roof and entered through a sliding door that doesn’t lock. No one in the building saw or heard anything.

Apple Keeps Doctors Away, Brings Thieves Instead
Apple products seem to be the premier item of choice for thieves. In another burglary Dec. 16, a 22-year-old female came home to her apartment on the Upper West Side at 2:40 a.m. to discover that her apartment had been tossed and two Macbook Pros and a Sony camera, among other items, had been stolen.

Cold-Weather Bandits
A chi-chi clothing store on Columbus Avenue was robbed Dec. 17. A man and woman walked into the store; while the woman chatted with the cashier, the man grabbed three scarves and four hats off a table and shoved them into a bag. The two suspects fled on foot in opposite directions.

Ladies, Keep Your Eyes on Your Purses
Several reports were filed this week of unattended bags and wallets going missing. Police remind residents to be especially cautious during the holiday shopping season and to keep your belongings in sight.

A Game of Adult Tag
A man was talking on his cell phone outside a children’s playground near 82nd Street and Riverside Drive Dec. 14 when a robber snatched the phone out of his hand and took off running. Here’s hoping that the kids thought they were playing a game of adult tag.