Crime Blotter: Robbery at Gunpoint, Smartphone Thefts and Thefts from Cars

A 29-year-old man was held up at gunpoint while he was walking in the Walt Whitman Houses between Cumberland Street and North Oxford Street on Jan. 2 at 7 p.m., police reported. He told police that three men shoved him into a chain link fence. One man pushed a gun in his stomach and told him “Don’t act stupid,” while another grabbed his iPhone from his pants pocket and the third acted as a lookout. All three fled on North Oxford Street. Police searched but could not find them. The man was not hurt in the robbery, police said.

Including the above crime, there were 19 felonies and five arrests reported in the 88th Precinct between Jan. 19 and Jan. 26. Locals also reported more smartphone thefts, thefts from cars and credit card fraud.

Smartphone Thefts

-A 35-year-old man was punched and robbed while walking through Fort Greene Park on Jan. 22 at 6:20 p.m. He told police that two men assaulted him and stole his iPhone. He was treated at the scene for cuts to his ear and face. Police tracked the phone to Park Avenue and Cumberland Street but could not find it.

-A 22-year-old woman reportedly was choked and robbed of her smartphone as she was about to board the C train at Fulton Street and South Oxford on Jan. 24 around 4 p.m. She told police that a man came from behind her, punched her, held her in chokehold and stole her HTC 1 cellphone. He fled above ground. She was treated for cuts and bruises on scene. Police searched for the phone without results.

-Police arrested Bowers Lawrence, 18, for allegedly robbing a 31-year-old woman near Willoughby Avenue and Clermont Avenue on Jan. 26. The woman told police that Lawrence and two other men grabbed her by the throat, threw her to the ground and stole her iPhone, Marc Jacobs purse and her earrings before escaping in a car. Police said the woman was not injured. The two other men were not caught.

Lawrence is charged with robbery in the second and third degrees, grand larceny in the fourth degree, criminal possession of stolen property in the fifth degree, aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle in the third degree and unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, according to the Kings County District Attorney’s office.

Assaults

-A 44-year-old man was assaulted while he was leaving Moe’s Bar at 80 Lafayette Avenue 1:30 a.m. on Jan. 20. He told police that someone cut him on the wrists, though he could not say with what. He received medical attention from EMTs at the scene.

-Police arrested a 14-year-old girl on Jan. 22 for allegedly hitting a 15-year-old girl  on the head with a broomstick on in the Ingersoll Houses. The girl was treated on scene for a cut on her head. The Kings County District Attorney’s office did not have information on charges since she is a juvenile.

-A 14-year-old girl allegedly stabbed her 12-year-old sister in the forehead and finger with a pen during an argument on Jan. 25 in the Ingersoll Houses. Police arrested the 14-year-old and her sister was treated on scene by EMTs. The Kings County District Attorney’s office did not have information on the charges because she is a juvenile.

Tampered Lock

A 33-year-old woman told police on Jan. 23 that someone had tampered with the deadbolt on the exterior door of her apartment building on South Portland Avenue and DeKalb Avenue the night before. The door had been locked at 9 p.m. the previous night. She came down to unlock the door at 7:45 a.m. and found a key jammed in the lock and an I.D. card stuck in the doorjamb. She did not know the owner of the card. She told police that the key was not for the door, and that everyone in the building has a key to the deadbolt.

Home Break-Ins

-Police arrested a 28-year-old man after he allegedly climbed a fire escape and broke a window to get into his girlfriend’s apartment at Greene and Clinton Avenues while yelling that he was going to kill her. Jamel Blakney was charged with attempted burglary in the second and third degrees criminal mischief in the fourth degree, resisting arrest, menacing in the third degree, harassment in the second degree, attempted criminal trespass in the third degree and attempted trespass after the Jan. 24 attack, according to the Kings County District Attorney’s office.

-The landlord of an apartment house at Saint Felix and Fulton Streets caught a man who allegedly was trying to break into the building shortly before midnight on Jan. 25, police reported. The building owner told police he saw Jovan Calderon, 28, rifling through a jacket hanging in the hallway. When he asked Calderon what he was doing there, he claimed he was there to see his girlfriend in Apt. 2R. The landlord said when he escorted Calderon to the apartment, he broke away and ran up to the roof. The landlord and another witness caught Calderon and held him down while the landlord’s daughter called the police.

Calderon is charged with burglary in the second and third degree, grand larceny in the fourth degree, criminal possession of stolen property in the fourth and fifth degree, criminal trespass in the second and third degree, trespass and petit larceny, according to the Kings County District Attorney’s office.

Theft from Bank Account

A 30-year-old woman told police that someone had charged $1,000 on her lost debit card on Jan. 20. She had dropped her debit card in the lobby of her apartment building on Clinton Avenue and Lafayette Avenue at 10 a.m. that day and when she called TD Bank to report it missing, the bank told her someone had spent $1,000 from her account.

Thefts from Cars

-A 39-year-old man told police that $1,350 in power tools had been stolen from his parked car at Washington Park and Myrtle Avenue. He said he had parked his car on Jan. 19 at 6 p.m. and when he returned on Jan. 20 at noon, he found the back door lock was broken and a DeWalt miter saw, a miter saw stand, a table saw, a circular saw and a Paslode nail gun were missing.

-A 34-year-old man’s iPad, iPhone and TD Bank debit card were stolen from his truck while he was shoveling the sidewalk outside Chase Bank on Myrtle Avenue around midnight on Jan. 21.

Credit Card Fraud

A 49-year-old woman told police on Jan. 20 that someone had used her personal information to open at least three store credit cards. She discovered the fraud when cards from Macy’s, Victoria’s Secret and J.C. Penney’s were sent to her residence.

A 44-year-old man told police that someone had opened a Discover credit card in his name on Jan. 21. The man found out about the fraud when Discover sent him a letter stating that he owed $6,535.78.

A 30-year-old womantold police that someone snatched her iPhone from her hand aboard the G train on Jan 23. She said the thief ran off at the Classon Avenue stop. Police searched the area but could not find the suspect.

Theft from Store

The owner of Cohen’s Fashion Optical on Flatbush Avenue told police that two people stole six pairs of eyeglasses, valued at $3,100, from his store on Jan. 25 at 1 p.m. He told police that they had given him a Care credit card and a New York State driver’s license before running off.

Car Theft

A 32-year-old man told police that he had parked his 1998 Toyota near South Oxford Park on Jan. 21 at noon and came back to find it missing on Jan. 22 at 3 p.m. Police searched for the car but could not find it.