Violent shoplifters
Police arrested a 51-old man on Dec. 26, saying he attacked a store security guard after shoplifting near City Hall.
The suspect and another man walked into the Duane Reade at 250 Broadway around 11 p.m., and then tried walking out with three packs of nasal strips that they hadn’t paid for, cops said. When the 56-year-old security guard spotted and confronted them, they reportedly got into a tussle with guard, who suffered a cut to his face after one of the thieves slashed him with a zipper, according to police.
One attacker was apprehended near the scene, and was charged with second degree robbery, but the other was able to get away before cops could nab him.
And in a similar incident, police arrested two men, 24 and 30, on Dec. 18, accusing them of stealing clothing in Soho before attacking a female security guard.
The two men walked into the Yellow Rat Bastard shop, at 483 Broadway, around 8:30 p.m. and tried to make off with three hats and two t-shirts, police said. When the guard intervened, the suspects reportedly punched her several times, but before they could flee the scene, other store employees were able to subdue the men until police could arrive.
Both were charged with assault, petty larceny and criminal possession of stolen property.
Subway phone snatcher
An opportunistic thief targeted a woman while she was riding a subway train through the Financial District on Dec. 24, police said.
The woman, in her 20s, told cops she was sitting on the northbound No. 2 train around 10:30 a.m., as it pulled into the Fulton St. station, when an unknown man snatched her iPhone and quickly dashed off the train. She was also knocked over by the force of the theft, and suffered minor scrapes to her knees, but wasn’t hospitalized, police said.
Wallet pickup
Another woman fell prey to a fleet-footed thief on Dec. 21 while she was busy loading a truck in Tribeca, police said.
The woman, 29, told cops she was packing boxes onto the pickup truck around 10:30 a.m., at the corner of Leonard St. and Broadway, and left her purse sitting on the passenger seat. An unknown man walking past the truck apparently spotted the unattended bag — in which the woman’s wallet also held credit cards and $80 in cash — and quickly opened the unlocked passenger door and made off with it, police said.
Easy car theft
An unfortunate street vendor’s car was stolen from Canal St. on Sat., Dec. 28, police said.
The vendor, 49, told cops he parked his 2006 Ford van near the intersection with Mercer St. around 10:30 a.m., and left it running with the keys in while walking to his cart near Broadway. Moments later, someone jumped into the van and pulled away, leaving the scene so quickly that the vendor never got a look at the person’s face.
Bad fitting
A woman’s purse was stolen while she was trying on shirts in a Soho shop on Dec. 19, police said.
The woman, 21, told cops she was left her bag near a clothing rack in the Old Navy at 503 Broadway while she was in the store’s changing room around 7 p.m. When she returned to pick it up, the purse — which contained credit cards, her driver’s license and $200 in cash — was gone.
Soho clothing swipes
A sneaky thief swiped a $3,000 coat from an upscale Soho menswear store on Dec. 22, police said.
The man strolled into John Varvatos at 122 Spring St. around 4:30 p.m., according to employees, and acted like he was trying on the pricey black coat when he instead turned around and ran out with it. Police were able to get a look at the thief after checking out the shop’s video surveillance footage, but no arrest has been made.
And another thief struck a week later, across the street, at yet another fashion outlet, police said.
Employees for Club Monaco, at 121 Spring St. told cops on the evening of Dec. 29 that, during a store inventory that day, they realized two pairs of jeans — collectively worth $1,300 — had been stolen. They were able to supply police with video footage of the alleged pants snatcher, after checking their tapes, but the unknown man is still on the run.
—SAM SPOKONY
