Swiping for BlackBerrys
A shoplifter stole two BlackBerrys Sept. 6 from an AT&T store using a MetroCard. A store employee told police that a man entered the 200 E. 86th Street and Third Avenue store at 4 p.m. and used the card to pry the BlackBerrys from the display case. Surveillance video caught him stealing the cell phones, which cost $449 each.
Play Crime
A 22-year-old man was arrested Sept. 2 at a Best Buy electronics store at 1280 Lexington Ave. at East 86th Street. Police said at 2:30 p.m., an employee saw Malcolm Barbee put a $110 Playstation 3 controller in his backpack. Barbee was stopped at the front door as he tried to leave the store, the employee said.
Louis Vui-Gone
An employee at the Louis Vuitton store on 1000 Third Ave. and East 60th Street said two women stole a pricy purse July 22 at 10:52 a.m. The employee told police one took a leather handbag that cost $1,760 from the display shelf. The other woman stuffed it into a bag.
Mad Men and Women
Upper East Side boutiques on Madison Avenue were targets of shoplifting and fraud recently.
Herve Leger, a boutique that sells the designer’s dresses, had thousands of dollars worth of merchandise stolen July 21. Police said that at 1:20 p.m., three women and a man in their mid-twenties entered the store on 804 Madison Ave. and East 68th Street. Read more
Pick Pocket Hits 5 Train
A 46-year-old Brooklyn woman had her wallet stolen on a downtown 5 train July 13 at 2:15 p.m. When she transferred to the train at 180th Street, she sat down across from the man she believes pick-pocketed her. He tried to talk to her repeatedly but she ignored him. She stood to exit the train at the Lexington Avenue and East 86th Street stop, when he got up and bumped into her. She exited the train and checked her pocket. Her wallet containing $80 was missing. The man was still on the train.
Theft on Wheels
- A 35-year-old Upper East Side man had the phone taken out of his hand June 29 at 11 p.m. Police said the man was walking on Second Avenue between East 89th and 90th streets when a man on a bicycle grabbed the Blackberry from his hand. The man chased down the thieving bicyclist but lost sight of him at East 93rd Street and Second Avenue.
Bank Heist
A man robbed a Capital One Bank July 1 at 12:20 p.m. Police said the man walked into the 1512 Second Ave. and East 79th Street branch and presented a note to the teller demanding money. He told the teller to “make it fast or I will shoot everybody over here.” The teller handed him $470 without a dye pack and he ran out of the bank, running east on East 79th Street.
Close Shave
A man stole hundreds of dollars in razor blades right in front of a Duane Reade employee June 30 at 7:50 a.m. Police said the man walked up to the cashier with 10 Gillette Fusion razors and 10 Gillette razor cartridges costing $502. He started asking the cashier questions about the product, and then suddenly ran out of the store, located on 1749 First Ave. and East 91st Street.
Two More Motorcycle Thefts
Upper East Side motorcycle thefts, which tapered off in recent months, appear to be back, now that two more have been lifted off the streets near York Avenue. Police said that June 11 at 5 p.m., a 25-year-old man parked his black 2009 Suzuki motorcycle outside his apartment at York Avenue and East 89th Street. When he checked on it about four hours later, the motorcycle was missing.
Four days later, June 15, a man’s motorcycle was stolen minutes after he unchained it. Police said a 26-year-old Queens man parked the motorcycle on the northeast corner of York Avenue and East 68th Street. He removed the chain from the motorcycle to store the lock in his work locker. When he came back about 15 minutes later, the 2009 black Kawasaki motorcycle was gone.
Employee Attacked After Theft
A Gristedes employee was attacked June 11 after confronting two teens who shoplifted a six-pack of Heineken beer. Police said that the 45-year-old employee from the Bronx approached the teens after he noticed one of them putting the beer in a black knapsack. The employee and teens got into an argument outside the store, at 350 E. 86th St. and First Avenue. Cops said that one of the teens smashed a beer bottle on the right side of the employee’s face. The teens fled west on East 86th Street.
