Crime Report: Many Electronic Devices Stolen

By Sandra Lopez-Monsalve

Four people were arrested in the 88th Precinct last week. Electronic device robberies were the most commonly reported felony in the nabe. Out of 22 reports, seven involved the theft of devices including cell phones, cameras and computers.

-Victoria Hammer, 49, was arrested after she allegedly followed a 43-year-old woman into Washington Deli Grocery on Fulton between Clinton and Waverly Avenues, snatched her cell phone and hit her with a pipe on the head on Oct. 6 at 6:40 a.m. Hammer tried to flee, but police quickly arrested her at the scene.

Hammer was charged with assault in the second and third degrees, menacing in the second and third degrees, harassment in the second degree, and criminal possession of a weapon on the fourth degree, according to the Kings County District Attorney’s office.

-A 29-year-old woman was attacked and robbed on Sept. 30 at the intersection of Washington and Myrtle Avenues. At 9:30 p.m., the victim was walking home when a woman grabbed her from behind and pushed her to the floor, while another woman punched her face and body. The assailants took an iPhone from her bag.  Police canvassed the area, but could not find the thief or the iPhone.

-A robber snatched an iPhone 5 from a 40-year-old man as he sat, holding his phone, on Lafayette Avenue at South Oxford Street on Oct. 2. The cell phone, worth $850, was recovered after the man chased down the thief who dropped the phone on Carlton and Lafayette Avenues. Police canvassed the area but could not find the thief.

– Someone snatched an iPhone 4, worth $200, from a 34-year-old woman’s hand on Oct. 2 at 2 p.m. on South Elliott Place at Lafayette Avenue, cops said. The robber fled north on South Elliott Place.

-A 30-year-old woman reported that her boyfriend snatched her iPhone 5, worth $849, during an argument on Oct. 4 on the street on Park Avenue. When the woman demanded her phone back, her boyfriend allegedly grabbed her by the hair and threw her to the ground, causing lacerations and pain to her left arm and side. The robber then fled the scene in a 2006 Marron Cadillac with New Jersey plates.

-On Oct. 3 at 9:54 a.m. on Adelphi Street and Myrtle Avenue, a 15-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of robbing a man at the P.S. 20 playground on Sept. 30 at 4 p.m. Critchlow allegedly took the man’s H&M black backpack containing WalMart school supplies, house keys, a YMCA Membership Card, and a cell phone. A spokesman for the Kings County District Attorney’s office could not provide information on the charges against the teen.

-Someone stole a Burberry purse, containing $6,503 in cash, among other items, from a baby stroller in a playground at Hall Street and Willoughby Avenue on Sept. 30 at 6:30 p.m., police said.  A 29-year-old woman told police she left the bag hanging on the stroller when she put her son on a swing. When she returned, the purse, also containing a wristlet, an Apple iPad and a Pentax camera, was gone.

Knife Assault

Monica Wilkerson, 43, was arrested after she allegedly slashed a woman on the left hand with a knife at the Walt Whitman Houses on Oct. 5 at 8 a.m. Wilkerson and the victim were having an argument at the time of the assault, cops said. The victim was taken to the Brooklyn Hospital for lacerations to her left hand, according to police.

Wilkerson was charged with assault, menacing in the second and third degrees, harassment in second degree, and resisting arrest, according to the Kings County District Attorney’s office.

Commercial Burglaries

-Fulton Deli and Convenience, located on Fulton Street near Saint Felix Street, was robbed at gunpoint on Oct. 4 at 11:55 p.m. The robber entered the grocery store, pulled out a gun and took $5,000 in cash from two registers behind the counter, police said. The robber fled west toward Fulton Street.

-A robber forced open the front door of the famous Pink Tea Cup Restaurant on Lafayette Avenue at Cumberland Street late on Sept. 9 between 10 a.m. and 9:30 p.m. A Hobart microwave and bakery equipment, worth a total of $3,500 were stolen, cops said. Police conducted a search, but were unsuccessful. No security cameras were inside the shop at the time of the burglary, police said.

Other Thefts

-On Oct. 4 at 5:05 p.m., a group of men approached a 16-year-old boy at Edmonds Playground on DeKalb Avenue at Adelphi Street, punched the teen and took his handbag, cops said. The property was recovered later that day from the basketball court, according to police.

-An orange Skillman power drill, a drill-bit set, a ratchet set, and a box of garbage bags, worth a total of $194, were stolen from a third-floor apartment on Washington Park at DeKalb Avenue between Sept. 28 and Oct. 5, police said. The custodian of the building told police that nobody was supposed to be on that floor.

-A 42-year-old woman left her purse in her office at the Brooklyn Hospital Center on Oct. 1. between 1:50 and 3:30 p.m. When she returned, the purse was gone and someone had already made a purchase with her credit card. Besides the credit card, the purse also contained the woman’s New York State driver’s license, gift cards, health-insurance cards, and a Century 21 rewards card. The woman told police that other people had access to the office.

–A 24-year-old woman arrived at her Clermont Avenue home on Oct. 5 to find her apartment ransacked. She told the police the robber took items worth a total of $1,750, including a ruby diamond ring, a pearl necklace, a chrome laptop, and a Canon digital camera. Police found no sign of forced entry.

Shot by Paintball Gun

A 61-year-old security guard was shot with a paintball gun on Oct. 6 while doing his rounds in an apartment complex at 1:30 a.m. on Portland Avenue. At first, he believed he had been hit with a pellet or BB gun, but upon further investigation, police found paint splatter on the victim. No injuries were reported, police said.

Apartment Trespassing

Rasaan Kellam, 37, was arrested on Oct. 3 around 8 p.m. after she allegedly kicked open the front door of a Washington Avenue apartment – causing $250 in damages – and ripped a posted New York City Marshal’s legal possession notice from the door. Kellam was charged with criminal mischief in the fourth degree, criminal trespass in the third degree, and trespass, according to the Kings County District Attorney’s office.

Stolen Car

A 43-year-old man told police that he parked his Honda Civic on Washington Avenue at Lafayette Avenue on Sept. 30 at 1:30 p.m. The next day, the car was not where he left it. The car was found later that day on Lafayette Avenue at Franklin Avenue, but its radio was removed from the dashboard, police said.

Theft from Truck

A thief stole a JanSport backpack, messenger bag, black wallet, Chase credit card and New York state non-drivers ID from the dashboard of a 26-year-old man’s truck on Sept. 29 at 10:15 p.m., police said. The man told police that he and a friend were moving items from a location on Washington Avenue into the truck when the theft occurred. The thief fled in an unknown direction, police said.

Fraudulent Account Usage

-A 46-year-old man told police that someone gained access to his debit card account information and used it to make purchases throughout New Jersey, totaling $2,284. The man told police he was in possession of his card when the purchases were made.

-Someone gained access to a 46-year-old man’s Chase Visa credit card information and used it to make fraudulent online purchases at Best Buy, totaling $1,285, while the card owner was out of the country between Sept. 30 and Oct. 2, police said. The 46-year-old victim told the police he was in possession of his credit card when the purchases were made. The money was credited to his account.

-A 37-year-old man told police that someone cashed one of his Citibank checks for $1,700 without permission on Sept. 23.

-A fraudster used a 17-year-old woman’s Chase debit card to make an unauthorized ATM check deposit of $2,780, cops said. The thief allegedly made withdrawals totaling $1,586. The victim told the police he did not suffer any financial loss, but was asked to pay over $900 in overdraft fees to the bank. The owner added that he had last seen his card on Sept. 20.