19th precinct
Assault and pepper
Two men stealing purses from Designer Revival, at 324 E. 81st St., sprayed an employee with an unknown substance before hitting her with a bag, police said.
On Aug. 6, around 5:30 p.m., a 23-year-old employee reportedly opened a display case at the luxury handbag store to show two potential customers, a man and a woman, some merchandise.
Once the display case was open, the man sprayed what officers believe was either mace or pepper spray in the face of the young employee. The couple was able to grab four Chanel handbags — a white shoulder bag, a white quilted-leather bag, a burgundy leather bag and a black patent leather bag — worth about $15,800.
According to officers, while fleeing, the woman swung one of the bags at the worker, striking her in the face.
Bag grab
On Sun., Aug. 4, a woman was pushed to the ground by someone trying to steal her purse.
According to police, the 26-year-old victim was walking northbound on Third Ave. when an unknown man pushed her from behind as she passed E. 71st St.
Once on the woman was on the ground, the assailant grabbed her Rag & Bone purse, worth $400, and fled westbound on E. 71st. St.
The young woman sustained only minor injuries to her knees and legs. The purse contents included a $100 Kate Spade wallet, a $50 pair of Topshop sunglasses, her apartment keys, a New York State driver’s license, a gray jumpsuit, a Barclays Uber credit card and a PNC credit card.
Xanax stickup
On Aug.12, a man tried to steal Xanax and cash from an Upper East Side CVS, police said.
The thief entered the store at 305 E. 86th St. and went directly to the pharmacy. He then passed a note to a pharmacists stating, “Give me your Xanax and cash, I have a gun.”
The pharmacist gave the man two bottles of 2 mg pills of Alprazolam, a generic form of Xanax, worth $464.44. The perp left the location without displaying any weapon.
Not for real-tor
On Aug. 12, a 73-year-old man complained to police that an alleged realtor that he wired money had vanished.
According to police, the E. 62nd St. resident made a $2,000 wire transfer to the suspect through the digital payment app Zelle.
The alleged realtor had promised to rent the 73-year-old an apartment after receiving payment, but did not show up for a scheduled viewing after the transfer. The victim told officers that the apparent con man also stopped answering phone calls or responding to text messages after the funds transfer.
20th precinct
Bike crook ‘Felt’ it
Thieves disassembled a bike rack in order to steal a man’s bike, police said.
On July 30, around 3 p.m. a man locked his 2015 Felt bike at a bike rack in front of 33 W. 60th St. and went to work out at a nearby gym.
According to police, when the 30-year-old returned to his bike, he found the rack completely pulled apart and his black-and-silver bicycle, yellow bicycle lock and helmet missing. The bike was worth around $1,050, the helmet $100 and the lock around $30.
Car gone
A man’s $43,000 sports car is believed to have been stolen from an Upper West Side parking garage, according to police.
On July 15, a 53-year-old parked his gray 2018 Jaguar XE in a commercial parking garage at 425 W. 59th St. around noon. When he returned to the garage hours later, his Jag was missing.
Bad karma
On July 16, around 5 p.m. a 25-year-old Upper West Side woman placed her belongings in a locker at Core Power Yoga, at 2030 Broadway, before attending a class.
According to officers, after the yoga class ended, she returned to the locker and found all of her credit cards were missing from her wallet. She quickly checked her Citibank online account and found that three purchases had been made with her card, for $869.91 and $433.32 at two separate Apple Stores and $53.42 at E.A.T, at 1064 Madison Ave.
Super-bummed
A man, 30, told police that on July 28, around 10:10 p.m., he left his bicycle unlocked for around three minutes outside an Upper West Side building where he was the super and had stopped by just to check on the building. When he came back out, his $1,200 Tommaso bicycle was gone.
24th precinct
Caution! Angry guy!
According to cops, on Thurs., Aug. 8, around 3:30 p.m., a man was arrested after he hit someone with a “Caution Wet Floor” sign. The 59-year-old assailant allegedly struck a 67-year-old man during an argument inside 330 W. 95th St. The older man was cut on the right side of his forehead by the plastic sign.
Angry art
An outraged customer threw a piece of art at a man working at the Ran Art Gallery, according to police.
On Aug. 8, at 10:25 a.m., a 32-year-old woman inquired about a piece of art in the gallery, at 2470 Broadway, at W. 92nd St. An employee, 68, told officers that the woman became irate and started to curse at him. According to police, the woman threw a piece of art outside of the store and then punched the senior in the right cheek when he stepped outside the gallery.
Officers arrested the woman and E.M.S. responded to the scene but the man refused medical attention.
Alejandra O’Connell Domenech
