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Police Blotter ( Manhattan Express), Week of June 27, 2019

19th Precinct

A RealReal steal

A pricey wallet was reported stolen from The RealReal earlier this month, although the robbery occurred toward the end of May.

According to police, a store employee witnessed a woman enter the luxury consignment store, at 870 Madison Ave., at E. 71st St., on May 22 around 2:30 p.m., grab a $11,000 Hermes wallet and flee.

Two weeks later, on June 6, the 31-year-old store employee then reported the wallet stolen to the police.

 

Phone scam

An Upper East Side grandmother was swindled by a man impersonating her grandson, police said.

On June 12, around 10 a.m. a 93-year-old woman received a phone call from a man claiming to her grandson. The man said the had been arrested and gave her what he claimed was his lawyer’s number.

The worried woman called the phony attorney, who told her she had to give him $9,500 in cash so that her grandson could be released from jail, according to cops.

After going to her bank to withdraw the funds, the woman paid the alleged lawyer in person outside of her apartment building. She eventually realized she had been scammed, and reported the encounter to the police around 7:39 p.m. that day.

According to police, the woman could not remember what the fake lawyer looked but remembers he got into a gray vehicle after she paid him.

 

Box-cutter threat

A man was arrested for robbing a CVS pharmacy and threatening an employee with a boxcutter.

According to police, on June 13, at about 12:28 a.m. an employee of the store, at 1396 2nd Ave., at E. 72nd St., spotted a young man taking items off of store shelves and placing them into a bag.

The employee approached the individual and asked him what was in the bag, to which he replied, “It’s over.” After the employee repeated his question, the man whipped out a box cutter, with blade out, and said “Get the f— back,” before running out of the store.

Police arrested the shoplifter, 19, who they said had taken 40 boxes of Listerine Breath Strips worth $260 from the chain pharmacy.

 

 

20th precinct

Chase case

Police are looking for a man wanted for trying to rob a Chase bank by passing a note.

According to police, on June 6, around 3:15 p.m., a man walked into the bank, at 225 Columbus Ave., at W. 70th St., and passed a note to a teller demanding $10,000 and instructing him to remain calm and “act as if nothing was wrong.”

When the teller refused to for over cash, the thief became irate, which caught the attention of the bank manager. The manager then witnessed the man leave the bank empty-handed.

A shot from Chase bank security camera footage of the man wanted for attempted robbery at its 225 Columbus Ave. branch. (Courtesy 20th Precinct Twitter.)

Citrus situation

Two teens were arrested on the Upper West Side after allegedly threatening a store employee with a knife and stealing oranges.

According to police, on June 4, an employee of Broadway Farm grocery store, at 2341 Broadway, at W. 85th St., witnessed one of the youths stealing two oranges from the outdoor fruit stand.

The 73-year-old employee approached the young thief, who promptly punched him in the face. Shortly after hitting the worker, the assailant asked a younger sidekick standing behind him “to pass him the knife,” according to police.

The employee told officers that second kid passed the other one a knife, which the assailant then used to try and slash him across the stomach.

After a foot pursuit, officers were able to apprehend both teens. One was 18 and the other 14.

 

Wallet grab

A woman said her credit card was stolen from her purse while she was at the movies.

According to police, on June 9, around 7:15 p.m. a 48-year-old woman noticed that her wallet was missing from her purse after watching a movie at the AMC Lincoln Square Theater, at W. 68th St. and Broadway.

Shortly afterward, she received an alert that a purchase of $1,033.22 had been charged to her credit card.

 

iPhone whodunnit 

A woman reportedly had her iPhone stolen by someone pretending to be her building’s super.

On June 10, at about 3:08 p.m., a 22-year-old woman received notification that her new iPhone XS had been delivered and signed for by her W. 82nd St. building super, according to police.

Once she arrived home at 5 p.m., the package was nowhere to be found and the super stated he had not signed for any items delivered to her that day. The phone was worth $1,050.

 

Stolen mascara

On June 15, a man and a woman allegedly stole $7,630 worth of mascara from a Blue Mercury store at 184 Columbus Ave., at W. 68th St.

According to police, a store employee witnessed the pair enter the place around 7:10 p.m. and grab two large jars containing 109 tubes of mascara before running out of the shop.

 

 

24th precinct

Abusive boyfriend

A woman was sprayed in the face with an unknown substance and threatened by her boyfriend, police said.

According to cops, the 24-year-old victim told officers that on June 12, at 10:30 a.m., during an argument, her boyfriend sprayed her in the face with what she thought was Lysol.

She further said that, after the altercation, he then threatened via text message to kill her and himself.

 

Fake firearm

A man stole a woman’s backpack after pretending he had a gun, police said.

On June 16, around 3:50 a.m., a 54-year-old woman was walking to the intersection of Broadway and W. 88th St. when a man approached her from behind and “simulated a firearm in the middle of her back,” according to police.

The thug then told the woman, “Just drop the bag.” Shortly after hearing this, the woman dropped her bookbag, ran and jumped into a cab. The backpack contained the woman’s keys, wallet and college textbooks worth a total of $425.

 

Doctored check

A woman discovered that a check she had mailed in March was cashed by a stranger in June.

On March 10, the woman wrote a check for $37 to Con Edison and dropped it in a mailbox at 1674 10th Ave., in Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn.

According to police, on June 4,  the woman’s bank app notified her that a check of hers was cashed for $3,700 by a person — whom she did not know — after having been deposited at a TD Bank ATM at 2521 Broadway, at W. 94th St.

 

Box-cutter attack

A woman cut a man across the face with box cutter on June 13, police said.

According to police, the 32-year-old victim was out getting food and was in front of 120 W. 91st St., between Columbus and Amsterdam Aves., when a woman behind him cut his left check with a box cutter, leaving a 3-inch laceration.

The victim told officers that he had never seen the woman before.

 

Alejandra O’Connell-Domenech