Following The Armed Robberies In Our Neighborhood, 70th Precinct Sends More Officers To The Streets & More From Last Night’s Community Council Meeting

Looking out onto a room packed with people concerned about the string of armed robberies in our neighborhood, Deputy Inspector Richard DiBlasio said at last night’s 70th Precinct Community Council meeting that the NYPD has funneled additional resources into the area, including increased foot patrols on Cortelyou Road, Newkirk Plaza and the western end of Church Avenue.

“Seven nights a week, those three areas are covered by police officers, and during the day when possible,” DiBlasio, the commanding officer of the 70th Precinct, told the crowd at 175 Lawrence Avenue, where the community council holds its monthly meetings.

Most of the two hour meeting, chaired by Community Council President Ed Powell, was dominated by talk of the armed robberies at Lark Café, Ox Cart Tavern, Mimi’s Hummus, and the Stratford Deli, as well as last month’s home invasion on Rugby Road, when neighbor Leonard Phillips was killed.

As far as the robberies, DiBlasio said, “we’re doing everything we possibly can – the Detectives’ Bureau has been investigating these, the 70th Precinct has allocated resources…We try and connect the dots and see if there’s any commonalities between them, and that’s what we’re doing. We’re aggressively investigating this.”

“Ultimately I’d love to have a police officer at every corner… but with the tools and policies we have, I think the 70th Precinct has done a pretty darn good job,” DiBlasio said. “…We’ll never stop – we’ll always go forward and look for these individuals.”

According to police, no arrests have been made in connection to the armed robberies. The precinct has issued a photo of the individual accused of robbing Mimi’s at gunpoint, as well as of the person who robbed the Stratford Deli. Ox Cart did not have a security camera, and police have not released descriptions of the suspects. A description of the individual who stole laptops from writers working at Lark Café too has not been issued.

In regards to the home invasion, the commanding officer stressed there was no connection between that and the robberies.

“As far as what happened on Rugby Road, that has nothing to do with [the robberies],” DiBlasio said. “We’re making good progress on that… That wasn’t a random home invasion. We don’t have anybody running around and running into anybody’s home and doing that.”

According to the NYPD, there has been one arrest made in connection to the home invasion, and DiBlasio said they’re looking for “at least two individuals.”

Other highlights from the meeting include:

• Elected officials said they are looking to increase funding for security in the area, and Assemblyman Jim Brennan said he is “initiating paperwork” to designate $100,000 for more street lighting along Cortelyou Road – something he stressed will likely not transpire for another year or more. “My office is trying to do its part,” Brennan said. “We’ve written [NYPD] Commissioner Bratton and Mayor de Blasio to provide all necessary resources to the precinct.” A couple residents questioned whether lighting was more necessary than, say, police cameras and wondered if the $100,000 would be better spent on that. “You can always use more lighting, you can also always use more cameras,” DiBlasio responded. “We want to create a safe passage. Something is better than nothing, right? The assemblymen know how to spend their money.”

• While Councilman Mathieu Eugene didn’t address the crowd during the community council meeting, he said at a gathering with the 70th Precinct and the Flatbush Development Corporation last week that he will look into funding for NYPD cameras – something which a number of business owners have advocated for, including Avi Shuker of Mimi’s Hummus.

• A representative from Councilman Jumaane Williams’ office, Jake Gold, said that while the lawmaker is concerned about the crime, “it is not in our district, so we will have to allow Council Member Eugene and his staff to go forward in attacking those issues.”

• Steve Zeltser, from Borough President Eric Adams’ office, encouraged neighbors to attend tonight’s town hall meeting about crime in our area. The meeting will be held at 7:30pm at PS 139.

• The commanding officer urged businesses, as well as homeowners, to purchase high definition security cameras. “We’ve spoken to a lot of merchants – we try to tattoo into them that video is a key part of helping and assisting the police department,” DiBlasio said.

• Numerous residents spoke during the meeting, with many of them noting that they’d lived in the area for decades and had never before witnessed the type of crime occurring now. “They’re holding up everybody as if it’s a movie – this is something that’s absurd,” Greg Winter said. “…I’ve been through the crack epidemic, and I’ve never heard of something like this… How are you actually going to restore public safety here?” DiBlasio again stressed the increased police presence in the area. “I am telling you with 100 percent certainty that those police officers are walking up and down Cortelyou, Newkirk Plaza and Church Avenue,” he said.

• Susan Siegel, who owns Brooklyn ARTery, said her business has just put in a buzzer system because of the crime in the area and noted that business owners feel “very vulnerable at night.” After she asked DiBlasio specifically when police officers walk down Cortelyou, the commanding officer said, “you think the bad guys are separated? There could be people listening to this now and passing it on.”

• DiBlasio added that there will be the increased police presence along Cortelyou, Church and Newirk Plaza “throughout the holidays to create a safe shopping environment.”

• After a neighbor inquired as to whether there has been an arrest in the armed robbery at a T-Mobile store on Flatbush Avenue, the commanding officer said there has not. “That’s a pattern going on not just here – individuals have been targeting T-Mobile stores, not just here, in other boroughs,” DiBlasio said. “That investigation is ongoing. We have some video with that. It’s difficult because they came in with masks. They targeted the new phone – the Apple 6. That’s a citywide pattern that’s being investigated.” The commanding officer last week said that there was no connection between the T-Mobile robbery and the robberies at Mimi’s, Ox Cart and the Stratford Deli.

• When a neighbor asked if the commanding officer believes the criminals are “fighting gentrification” and targeting specific businesses, DiBlasio said, “what’s happened at the restaurants is an unusual crime – I’ll be the first to tell you it’s unusual…But it could happen in Ditmas Park, in Midwood, by the Parade Grounds.” “Are they targeting anybody?” he continued. “If they see a room full of people sitting there with laptops – it could happen anywhere. In Midwood, Brooklyn North, anywhere. As far as targeting, I don’t see anything.”

• Neighbor Chris Masterjohn too noted how unusual the recent armed robberies have been, saying, “it seems like the efficient way to rob a restaurant would be to go straight for the cash register and get as much as you could and leave as quickly as possible. It seems like a higher risk to rob the people in the establishment… Does it seem like there might be intention to intimidate the customers and hurt the businesses, instead of just getting away with as much cash as you can?” DiBlasio responded that, “when we catch the mutt doing this I’ll ask him these questions… It’s unusual for them to come in like this. It’s like going back to the 1970s western movies with someone coming in with a mask and saying this is a stick-up… Maybe when we catch them, we’ll figure that out.”

The next meeting of the 70th Precinct Community Council will be held Wednesday, December 10 at 175 Lawrence Avenue.

Photos by Avi Glickstein