Crime Report: Shooting in Commodore Barry Park and Shoplifter Assaults

Shots were fired in Commodore Barry Park early on Sept. 2 over a Samsung flip cell phone, police reported. A 22-year-old man told police that he was walking in the park at about 2 a.m. with two men he had just met at the Farragut Houses. Suddenly, one of the men demanded his phone and snatched it, while the other pulled out a gun and shot him multiple times in the back, head, arm and leg, cops said.

Brandon Lee, 18, the alleged shooter, was arrested on Sept. 7 at about 7 p.m. on Park Avenue at Cumberland Street, cops said. His gun was not recovered, according to police. Officers searched the area for the alleged cell phone thief, who is still at large, but were unsuccessful. The victim suffered multiple gunshot wounds on his back, arm and the back of his head and was taken to Bellevue Hospital, cops said. Police do not have an update on the victim’s current medical condition.

Lee was charged with attempted murder in the second degree, assault in the first, second and third degrees, robbery in the first and second degrees, criminal possession of a weapon in the second and fourth degrees, grand larceny in the fourth degree, criminal possession of a firearm, menacing in the second and third degrees and petit larceny, according to the Kings County District Attorney’s office.

Including the crime above, 17 felonies and four arrests were reported in the 88th Precinct last week, a significant drop from 26 felonies and 11 arrests the week before. While no significant crime trends emerged last week, three locals reported unauthorized usage of their bank or cell phone accounts. Two people were also arrested for allegedly stealing items from stores.

Unsuccessful Bank Robbery

A man allegedly shoved a plastic bag under a teller’s window at Chase Bank on Myrtle Avenue between Vanderbilt and Clinton Avenues on Sept. 3 at about 4:40 p.m., demanded that the teller put money inside it and gestured that he had a gun. The man left empty-handed when the teller refused to fork over cash, cops said.

Shoplifter Assaults

-Larnell Swinton, 53, was arrested after he allegedly punched an employee of 7-Eleven on the Flatbush Avenue Extension who tried to stop him from sneaking out of the store with a Red Bull energy drink, Tropicana orange juice and Poland Spring water concealed under his shirt on Sept. 5 at about 10 p.m. The employee suffered a cut on his left eye, police said.

Swinton was charged with robbery in the second and third degree, assault in the third degree, attempted assault in the third degree, petit larceny, criminal possession of stolen property in the fifth degree, menacing in the third degree and harassment in the second degree, according to the Kings County District Attorney’s office.

-Curtis Morton, 43, was arrested after he allegedly punched an employee of R & J Food Market on Lafayette Avenue who attempted to stop him from leaving the store with two containers of Tide laundry detergent hidden in his pants. The employee suffered a cut on his forehead, cops said. Surveillance video in the store captured the incident, which took place on Sept. 6 at about 3:10 p.m., police said.

Morton was charged with robbery in the second and third degrees, assault in the second and third degrees, petit larceny, criminal possession of stolen property in the fifth degree, menacing in the third degree and harassment in the second degree, according to the Kings County District Attorney’s office.

Street Robbery

A 41-year-old woman told police that she was walking on Fulton Street between South Oxford Street and South Portland Avenue on Sept. 2 at 2:30 p.m. when she realized that her backpack was open and her wallet was stolen from inside. The wallet contained a driver’s license, an Epic debit MasterCard, a 7-day unlimited MetroCard, a memory card and video discs, cops said.

Transit Robbery

A 54-year-old man told police that he fell asleep on Sept. 2 while riding a southbound A train with his duffel bag in his lap, and when he woke up at the Clinton-Washington Avenues station at about 3:30 a.m., the bag was gone. The bag contained a wallet with a Chase debit card, a Capital One credit card and a driver’s license inside. He told police that he cancelled his cards, but was informed someone unsuccessfully attempted to use them.

Stolen from the Stroller

A 28-year-old woman told police that she realized her Kenneth Cole wallet was gone after she left the Amazon Cafe on Clinton Avenue on Sept. 2 at about 3:30 p.m. She said that when she was at the store, she placed her wallet inside a bag hanging from her baby stroller near the door. The wallet contained a Chase debit card, library card, Medicaid card and Health Plus card, cops said.

Wallet Theft

A 29-year-old man told police that someone stole his wallet from Kings Pizzeria on Fulton Street near Washington Avenue on Sept. 5 between 2:30 and 3 p.m. He said that he had placed his wallet on a bench and was about to leave the pizzeria when he realized he didn’t have his wallet. When he returned to the bench, his wallet wasn’t there, police said.

Stolen Car

An East Shore Productions employee told police that he left his rental car with an employee of Amber Car Park LLC on Rockwell Place on Aug. 31 at about 4:10 a.m. When he returned to pick up the car on Sept. 9 at 4:30 a.m., it was gone, he told police.

Thefts from Cars and Trucks

-Tremaine T. Johnson, 30, was arrested after he allegedly stole a projector and speakers, worth about $1,000 in total, from a United Wholesalers truck on Flushing Avenue near Clermont Avenue on Sept. 8 at about 2:30 p.m., cops said.

Johnson was charged with petit larceny and criminal possession of stolen property in the fifth degree, according to the Kings County District Attorney’s office.

-A 33-year-old man told police that someone stole a radar gun, a camcorder, shoes, pants, toiletries and sunglasses — worth a total of $6,200 — from the trunk of his car parked on Vanderbilt Avenue between Park and Myrtle Avenues between Sept. 2 at 11:30 p.m. and Sept. 3 at 9 a.m.

Home Burglary

A 35-year-old man told police two men entered his North Portland Avenue apartment in the Walt Whitman Houses, handcuffed him, rifled through his belongings and stole $210 in cash, headphones, gold chains, an iPhone, a Boost mobile phone and wine bottles on Sept. 8 between 7:40 and 8:20 p.m. The victim told police he forgot to shut the door when three women he knew arrived. Police searched the area but could not find the thieves or the victim’s stolen belongings.

Unauthorized Account Usage

-A 64-year-old Adelphi Street resident told police that someone stole his Chase Bank debit card and used his personal information to deposit checks totaling $6,000 in his account and then remove the cash on May 26 at 10 a.m. The man discovered the fraudulent activity more than three months later and reported it on Sept. 6, cops said.

-A 37-year-old Grand Avenue resident told police that someone stole a debit card from his mailbox while he was away on vacation between Aug. 23 and Sept. 2, and ran up $8,000 in charges on the card. The man thought the card should have been delivered while he was on vacation, police said, but he did not find it in his mailbox when he returned home. He later got a call from Bank of America about the fraudulent charges, cops said.

-A 28-year-old woman told police that on Aug. 10, someone used her personal information to access her Verizon cell phone account, cancel her phone and open up another phone line, incurring $304.64 in charges.

Domestic Disputes

-A man allegedly attempted to throw a bottle at his girlfriend during an argument in their Carlton Avenue apartment in the Walt Whitman Houses on Sept. 3 at about 6:15 p.m., but missed and hit his girlfriend’s sister instead. The sister, 27, suffered a cut on her face, police said. She was treated by Emergency Medical Services and taken to the Brooklyn Hospital Center, cops said. The man fled the scene before officers arrived and has not been arrested, according to police.

-A 26-year-old woman told 84th Precinct officers that her boyfriend dragged her up the stairs to his Park Avenue apartment, then proceeded to punch, kick, slap and choke her on Sept. 2 at 8 a.m. The woman suffered swelling, bruising, redness and a cut on her neck and other parts of her body, police said. The woman refused medical attention at the precinct. She told police she would like an order of protection against her boyfriend.