Starbucks pickpocket
Hands full of coffee, one woman could do nothing as her assailant bumped into her and slipped her cell phone from her pocket.
The 32-year-old woman was inside Starbucks at about 3 p.m. on Fri., Jan. 25 when someone picked her pocket. She was on her was on her way out of the 195 Broadway location when she felt contact and immediately realized what had happened. She reported it to police, but the thief was already gone.
The $400 iPhone 5 was offline and could not be tracked. Video surveillance was available but unable to be immediately viewed as the Starbucks manager was not on the scene.
No “pop” in CVS robbery
Police arrested a man after he attempted to rob CVS by pretending he was carrying a gun.
The defendant, Michael Williams, 25, was arrested on Sat., Jan. 26 when police say he tried to purloin miscellaneous items from a CVS drug store at 129 Fulton St. An employee of CVS reported that Williams attempted to leave the store at about 10:30 p.m. with miscellaneous goods totaling $478 concealed in a white plastic bag.
When confronted by the store manager, Williams, according to police, reached into his rear waistband and stated, “Don’t make me pop it off in here. Don’t make me pop it off in here.”
The defendant then rushed at the manager and tried to punch him, but missed, police said. He reportedly pushed the manager a few times and then dropped the bag of stolen merchandise and fled the store.
A police officer had witnessed the scene and was coming to intervene when Williams fled. The officer pursued and caught the suspect.
Turnstile theft
An unzipped bag proved too tempting of a target to ignore as its owner made her way into the transit system, police reported.
On Wed., Jan. 23 at 8:30 p.m., the 22-year-old entered the Fulton St. subway station at Fulton and Nassau Sts. to get on the J train. Her bag was unzipped as she approached the turnstile and just before she entered it, she reported that a man reached into her bag and took her wallet, fleeing back up the stairs and into the street.
The thief got away with a $300 pink Miu Miu wallet, $24 in cash, the woman’s credit cards and drivers license.
Less Wallet
An unattended wallet was stolen from a convenience store on Saturday when it was left on the cashier counter.
The woman, 22, told police that she had left her wallet on the counter while shopping at Less Less on 83 Chambers St., at about 5:50 p.m. on Jan. 26. When she came back for it five minutes later, it was gone. Video surveillance subsequently showed that another woman, about 40, took it from the counter. The victim canceled her debit card and there was no unauthorized usage.
Auto theft
A resident of Woodmere, N.Y. had her car stolen while working Downtown on Thursday.
The victim, 39, told police that she parked her car, a 2010 Acura MDX, on the corner of West and Warren Sts. at about 1:30 p.m. on Thur., Jan. 24. When she came back at about 3 p.m., she saw that her gray SUV valued at $30,000 was missing. Police reported that there was no sign that the vehicle had been broken into and stolen. A tow pound check and a check with the city Marshall turned up no results.
– KAITLYN MEADE
