Crime Report: Fewer Felonies, a Women’s Shelter Attack and Credit Card Thefts

By Reem Nasr

Fifteen felonies and one arrest were reported in the 88th Precinct between Oct. 21 and Oct. 27.

A fight at the Tillary Street Women’s Shelter led to the single arrest, continuing a trend of fights between shelter residents that peaked over the summer but had become less frequent in the past two months.

While there were several credit card thefts, there were only two reports of cell phone snatchings, including one robbery in which the victim was threatened.

Also, an odd crime occurred at the Walt Whitman Houses when a mugger grabbed a silver walking cane from the hand of a man walking home and then ran off with it.

Assaults

A 46-year-old resident of the Tillary Street Women’s Shelter was hospitalized after another resident beat her in the face with the phone after the two got into an argument on Oct. 25 at around 11 p.m., police reported. The victim suffered lacerations, bleeding and pain in her forehead and was transferred to the Brooklyn Hospital Center by ambulance.

Lasharn Coley, 44, was arrested and charged with assault in the third degree, attempted assault in the third degree, harassment in the second degree, menacing in the second and third degrees, and criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree, according to the King’s County District Attorney’s office.

Street Robbery

Two men stole a 16-year-old boy’s iPhone on the corner of Clinton and Myrtle Avenues at around 8:50 a.m. on Oct. 24, cops said. The victim told police that he noticed the men following him as he walked east on Myrtle Avenue. He entered a building on Clinton Avenue ,and when he emerged the men approached him. One of them asked the victim where he was from, police said. The other said, “We don’t want to fight. Just give us your phone.” The teen told police he handed over his phone and the muggers fled. The iPhone was tracked and there were cameras at the location of the mugging, though police are not sure yet if they captured the robbery. The victim described one of the men as having a Band-Aid on his chin, and the other as wearing a “cream-colored sweater.”

Burglaries

-Mercedes Distribution Company, a warehouse on Flushing Avenue near Commodore Barry Park, reported that a thief entered the building and stole four pairs of sneakers, valued at $980, sometime between Oct. 18 and Oct. 21. Among the haul were pair of Fila sneakers worth $540 and a pair of Converse sneakers worth $375. Company officials told police they suspected a former employee who was laid off three weeks earlier. The company has surveillance footage of the former employee entering and leaving, but no footage of him actually taking the shoes, police said.

-A driver, 33, said an iPad and GPS navigator were stolen from his work van as it was parked on Lafayette Avenue between Adelphi Street and Clermont Avenue on Oct. 25 between noon and 12:15 p.m. The victim told police he left his car unlocked and returned to the items missing. The iPad did not have its tracking system activated. Police said the iPad was worth $650 and the GPS worth $140.

-After leaving her Lefferts Avenue apartment for several months to care for her sick mother, a 49-year-old woman returned on Oct. 25 to find the flat in disarray and $3,390 worth of household items and clothing missing. The apartment door had been padlocked and, she told police, the building superintendent explained that there was a fire and he had needed to enter the apartment. A neighbor told police that the superintendent put the padlock on the door after the Fire Department had left the apartment.

Credit Card Theft

-A 20-year-old woman police that she lost her pocketbook and that someone then withdrew $900 from her checking account using her Citibank MasterCard. The victim, a resident of the Ingersoll Houses, told police that she noticed the fraudulent charges when she was checking her online statement. She filed the report at the 88th Precinct on Oct. 21.

-A woman reported on Oct. 24 that her wallet and Municipal Credit Union Visa debit card were missing. A total of $550 had been fraudulently charged to her account, she told police. She said she last used the card on Oct. 16 at around 11 p.m. at the Walt Whitman Houses. She told police she thinks she lost her wallet on Oct. 21 when she went to an MCU Bank at 350 Jay Street. Also in the wallet were New York City Housing Authority identification and health insurance cards.

-A thief was captured on store video taking a purse left on the counter of the 7-Eleven on Flatbush Avenue. A 31-year-old woman forgot her purse on the counter, she told police, and then another woman took the bag and used her Bank of America debit card to buy two $20 MetroCards. The purse also contained insurance cards, a Bank of America debit card, a Capital One credit card and a union work identification card, with a total value of $80.

-A 48-year-old resident of the Atlantic House Men’s Shelter reported that his Visa Card and starter checks were taken from his bed. The victim told police on Oct. 21 that he put the items on his bed, and when he returned they were gone. Police said the thief had cashed the checks and had been withdrawing money from the victim’s account.

-A woman told police that on Oct. 26 her wallet was stolen while she and her husband dined at the Stonehome Wine Bar. She told police she was seated on a bench that ran along the length of the wall with her purse next to her, she told police. She saw her wallet inside her purse when she sat down, she told police, but when she reached for it to pay the bill, it was missing. She called her banks to report her cards missing, but she was told that her debit card had been used while she was still at dinner, at around 8:30 p.m. The wallet contained $20 in cash, as well as a Morgan Stanley MasterCard, a Capital One Visa card and a California driver’s license.

-That same evening, on Oct. 26, a woman told police that her wallet was stolen from her purse while she was at the Prospect BK Bar at around 10 p.m. The victim, 44, told police that four of her credit and debit cards were used several times at different locations. The wallet also contained $80 in cash.

Snatched Items

-A thief rushed up behind a man and grabbed a silver walking cane from his hand as he was walking home to the Walt Whitman Houses at 9 p.m. on Oct. 22. The victim was not injured. The cane was valued at $30.

-A 17-year-old boy reported that a thief came up behind him and snatched his cell phone from his hand as he passed the intersection of Myrtle and Washington Avenues on Oct. 21 at around 1:50 p.m. The boy told police his Samsung Galaxy phone is valued at $200.

Other Thefts

Ryerson Towers Housing Corporation officials charged that a former employee stole from the company’s bank account between June 2012 and May 2013. The employee had access to the bank account, police said, and had made purchases adding up to $2,262.33 for Dell computer equipment. The corporation officials also said that they had made previous attempts to collect the money from the former employee but were not successful.

Domestic Violence

A 22-year-old woman said the father of her children came up behind her at a friend’s party in the Ingersoll Houses on Oct. 27 and put her in a tight chokehold. She passed out and when she came to after the 1:15 a.m. attack she had a bump on her forehead, police said.