Crime Report: Street Muggings and Thefts from Cars

A 20-year-old man told police that someone shot him in the left forearm and left buttocks after an argument in a livery cab on Aug. 6 at about 1 a.m. on the grounds of the Walt Whitman Houses. It was unclear whether the shooter was the cab driver or a fellow passenger. An NYPD camera at Auburn Place and North Portland Avenue may be able to provide footage of the crime, police said.

Including the crime above, 14 felonies and three arrests were reported in the 88th Precinct last week, a decrease from 19 felonies and 11 arrests the previous week. Muggings continued to dominate the reports, and cell phones were the most commonly stolen items. Three residents also told police that their belongings were stolen from their cars.

Street Muggings

-On Aug. 11 just after midnight, a thief punched a 45-year-old man in the head and face and grabbed $353 in cash, his cell phone, yellow cab medallion license and CitiBank and HSBC credit cards in front of a Monument Walk apartment on the grounds of the Ingersoll Houses, police said. The thief fled on foot. Police searched the area with the victim, but were unsuccessful in finding his belongings. There are no security cameras nearby, according to police.

-A 15-year-old boy was arrested after he allegedly snatched a 29-year-old woman’s cell phone on Clinton Avenue between Park and Myrtle Avenues on Aug. 3 at 10 p.m. When police arrested the teen, they learned that he was responsible for watching his 10-year-old brother and 6-year-old sister, but had left them at home unattended.

The Nabe is withholding the teen’s name because of his age. The Kings County District Attorney’s office did not have charge information available for the teen.

-A 27-year-old man told police that he was in front of a South Elliott Place building talking on his iPhone on Aug. 9 at 1:40 a.m. when a thief, gesturing that he had a gun, choked him and grabbed his phone and $30 in cash. The victim told police that he did not see a gun. Police searched the area but could not find the thief or the victim’s phone and cash.

-A 66-year-old woman told police that she was standing in front of her Washington Avenue apartment on Aug. 11 at 6:15 p.m. when a thief snatched her cell phone. She told police that she would provide them with her phone’s make and serial number. She added that she does not have tracking software on the phone.

Mugging in Lobby

A 69-year-old woman told police that when she returned to her Cumberland Street apartment from the Clinton-Washington Avenues subway station on Aug. 10 at 5:20 a.m., a mugger came up behind her in the lobby, choked her and demanded her wallet, saying, “Drop this or you’re gonna die.” He then snatched the wallet, holding a Social Security card and driver’s license, and fled.

Attempted Mugging

A 25-year-old man was walking on Park Avenue at North Portland Avenue on Aug. 5 at 6 p.m. when a mugger tried to take his cell phone, but failed, police said. The mugger then allegedly fought the man, cutting his face, arms and legs, in an attempt to take his bag – but failed again and fled.

Access-A-Ride Driver Attack

On July 3 at 4:30 p.m., a 59-year-old Access-A-Ride van passenger allegedly cursed out the 24-year-old driver as he drove on Flatbush Avenue at Lafayette Avenue, and bashed him over the head with his cane. The driver, who sustained a bump and suffered pain behind his ear, reported the incident on Aug. 6, according to police.

Leroy Marks, 59, was arrested on Aug. 7 and charged with assault in the third degree, menacing in the second degree, criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree, attempted assault in the third degree, menacing in the third degree and harassment in the second degree, according to the Kings County District Attorney’s office.

Thefts from Cars

-A 35-year-old woman told police that on Aug. 10 between 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., someone broke the rear passenger window of her car parked on Lafayette Avenue at Ashland Place and stole CitiBank, Bank of America and Discover cards, a Green Card and a driver’s license from inside.

-A 29-year-old man told police that he parked his car on Lafayette Avenue between Grand Avenue and Steuben Street on Aug. 9 at 2 p.m., and when he returned on Aug. 11 at 7:30 p.m., he realized that a stethoscope, a bicep-curling machine, an iPad and iPad case, sunglasses and a DVD of the James Bond film “Tomorrow Never Dies” were stolen from inside.

-A woman told police that someone stole her iMac laptop from the back seat of her city-owned business car parked on Carlton Avenue at Willoughby Avenue between 9:40 p.m. on Aug. 5 and 8:05 p.m. on Aug. 6. The woman told police that she had left the driver’s-side door ajar. There are no nearby security cameras, and police could not find any witnesses.

Apartment Burglary

On August 6 at 1:30 p.m. Calvin Williams allegedly shattered the padlocked window of a vacated Monument Walk apartment in the Ingersoll Houses belonging to a Rikers Island inmate and remained inside for a half hour, apparently smoking crack. No property was stolen from the apartment, cops said. When police arrested Williams inside the apartment at 2 p.m., they found his crack pipe with residue on a bedroom dresser.

Williams, 47, was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree, criminal trespass in the third degree and trespass, according to the Kings County District Attorney’s office.

Domestic Disputes

-A man allegedly choked his 25-year-old pregnant girlfriend, bruising and scratching her neck in their Cumberland Street apartment near Fulton Street on July 30 at 9:40 p.m., police said. The woman refused to go to the hospital and would not provide information about her boyfriend, police said. Her cousin made the police report.

-A 25-year-old woman told police that when she walked out of her Carlton Avenue apartment in the Atlantic Terminal Houses on Aug. 11 at 5:45 a.m., her ex-boyfriend approached her, swung a cane at her and hit her in the head. He then allegedly followed her into her apartment and choked her. The woman told police that she had an order of protection against her ex-boyfriend, who was not at the scene when police arrived.