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Crime Blotter: Heart Attack Victim Becomes Robbery Victim, A Bubbly Burglar & More

Emily

Emily

— 5 min read
police car

29 felonies and 14 arrests were reported in the 88th Precinct between June 20 and June 29. More details on these crimes, including assaults, major thefts from cars, and more, below.

Half a Heart

A thief stole a 60-year-old woman’s cane, cellphone, and purse around 1:30pm on June 26 while she was having a heart attack on Fort Greene Place near Hanson Place. She told police that the thief called 911, waiting until Emergency Medical Services came before taking off with her belongings.

Champagne Caper

A woman left her apartment on Vanderbilt Avenue near Gates Avenue at 9 a.m. on June 27 and found that a thief stole $3,500 worth of champagne and custom jewelry when she returned the next day.

Cradle Stroller Robbers

Police arrested Alex Santana and Hida Riverapontoja for an alleged June 13 theft from the Brooklyn Hospital Center. Video surveillance reportedly shows the devious duo hiding two computers in a baby carriage. Each is charged with burglary, grand larceny, petit larceny, and trespass, says the Brooklyn DA.

Muggings & Robberies

  • A man was held up at gunpoint in the Parham Playground on Adelphi Street as he was walking to his car around 1:15am on June 29. The thief made off with the victim’s diamond earring and watch.
  • Police arrested Travis Brown for allegedly snatching a man’s headphones as he was walking on Fulton Street near South Elliott Place around 4:15pm on June 25. Brown is charged with robbery, grand larceny, petit larceny, criminal possession of stolen property, menacing, and harassment, says the Brooklyn DA.
  • A thief on a Citi Bike snatched a woman’s purse as she was walking on Myrtle Avenue near Washington Avenue at around 6pm on June 21.
  • Police arrested Keith Wilkinson for allegedly stealing three Xanax pills from a woman on Fulton Street near Waverly Avenue at around 7:30am on June 27. Wilkinson fled but was found one block away, police reports say. The Brooklyn DA says Wilkinson has been charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance.
  • A thief grabbed an iPad from a man riding the C train around 8:40am on June 26, say police, fleeing with the device when the doors opened at the Clinton-Washington station.

Assaults

  • A man told cops that an attacker slashed him with a knife on his hand, back, stomach, chest and shoulder while he was walking on Lafayette Avenue near South Elliott Place at around 2:45am on June 29. The victim was treated at Brooklyn Hospital Center for his injuries, according to police.
  • Police arrested Wesley Odems after an alleged fight with his girlfriend on June 24. The victim told police that Odems picked her up by the neck, threw her against a cabinet in her apartment, and tried to stab her with a shard of glass. She was treated at Brooklyn Hospital Center for deep cuts on her hands, arm and face. Odems is charged with attempted assault, assault, menacing, criminal obstruction of breathing or blood circulation, and criminal possession of a weapon, says the Brooklyn DA.
  • Police arrested Duke Stewart for allegedly breaking his girlfriend’s arm during a fight on June 22. The victim told cops Stewart grabbed her left arm and twisted it backward until it broke, and that he handcuffed her when she tried to call 911. She was treated for her injuries at New York Methodist Hospital. Stewart is charged with assault, unlawful imprisonment, criminal mischief, attempted assault, menacing, and harassment, says the Brooklyn DA.
  • An assailant threw hot coffee on a woman’s leg during an argument at the Auburn Family Residence on June 24. EMS treated the woman for burns on her leg.
  • Jeromy Gonzalez and Gwendolyn Sterling were arrested for allegedly punching a police officer in the face in the Auburn Family Residence on June 26. The Brooklyn District Attorney’s office says Gonzalez and Sterling have been charged with assault, attempted assault, menacing, and harassment.
  • Latisha Moore was arrested for allegedly hitting a fellow resident in the head with a metal bed frame in the Tillary Street Women’s Shelter on June 26. Moore is charged with assault, menacing, criminal possession of a weapon, attempted assault and harassment, the Brooklyn DA says.

Other Thefts, Burglaries & Break Ins

  • A woman told police that a man broke into her apartment on Clermont Avenue near Park Avenue at around 1:30am on June 27. The intruder had wrapped his hand in a towel, simulating a gun, and stole her wallet, cellphone, and car keys before fleeing out the front door. Police found the keys a block away on Adelphi Street, as well as the towel and a hammer the thief used to break into the apartment.
  • $1,700 worth of musical instruments, including a French horn, a trumpet, and a violin, were stolen from the living room of a woman’s apartment on South Portland Avenue near Dekalb on June 24. She told police that the living room window had been left open during the day.
  • $785 worth of tools reported stolen from a construction company van, which was parked on Vanderbilt Avenue near Fulton Street, sometime between June 20 and 23. A worker told police e left the van at 7 pm on the 20th, discovering the rear right side window broken and the tools missing when he returned three days later.
  • $1,700 worth of theatrical lights were reportedly stolen from a car parked on Clinton Avenue near Lafayette Avenue between 5 pm on June 20 and 11:30am on June 21.
  • A thief smashed the passenger window of a man’s rental van parked on Vanderbilt Avenue near Fulton Street and stole a $2,000 guitar sometime between June 20 and 23. The victim told police he’d parked his car on June 20th at 2pm, and found the guitar gone upon his return three days later.
  • Four tires and rims worth $5,000 were stolen from a car parked on Vanderbilt Avenue near Park Avenue during the night of June 22.
  • A thief reportedly grabbed a wallet and cellphone from a man sleeping in his car parked on Steuben Street near Myrtle Avenue around 1:30pm on June 24.
  • A man told police that his wallet and GPS system were stolen from his car parked on Vanderbilt Avenue near Gates Avenue between June 26 and the morning of June 27. The victim left a window partially open, cops say.

Car, Bike & Other Vehicle Thefts

  • After stopping Edwin Massa for riding without a helmet on June 20, cops discovered the bike had been stolen four days prior from a docking station on Willoughby and Fleet Streets. Massa was arrested and charged with criminal possession of stolen property and criminal possession of a weapon, says the Brooklyn DA.
  • Cops arrested one 14-year-old and two 15-year-old boys for allegedly stealing a 16-year-old boy’s bike at DeKalb Avenue and Ashland Place on June 25. Police found the thieves at Carlton Avenue near Fulton Street after a brief search, but as the alleged thieves are minors, the DA could not provide information on exact charges.
  • Two Citi Bikes were stolen from the docking station on Myrtle Avenue at Clinton Avenue on June 26, according to police.
  • A man told police that a motorcycle, which had been secured to a tree in the his front yard on Grand Avenue near Putnam, was stolen during the night on June 24.
  • A 2005 Ford E350 was stolen from Ryerson Street near Park Avenue sometime between June 22 and 24, its owner said.
  • A 2003 Honda Civic parked on South Portland Avenue and Dekalb was reportedly stolen on June 26.

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