Weekend Crime Blotter: MTA Bus Driver Arrested For Exposing Himself to Bay Ridge Kids, Unprovoked Punches in Multiple Nabes & More

BAY RIDGE – Police have arrested and charged the MTA bus driver wanted for exposing himself to young girls in Bay Ridge last week.

Matthew Wohlfahrt, 28, was charged with endangering the welfare of a child, public lewdness and grand larceny, police said.

Last Monday, while driving a gray minivan, Wohlfahrt approached a 14-year old girl and her friends near Ridge Boulevard and asked for directions, then exposed himself to the victim, said police.

A few days later, Wohlfahrt was in another vehicle, on Colonial Road, when he attempted to lure an 11-year old into his car under the pretense of getting directions. When the victim approached the car, she noticed he was exposing himself, said police.

A sketch used during the search for the perpetrator can be seen below:

CLINTON HILL – Police are looking for the man who attacked a young woman seemingly at random as she left a Clinton Hill deli last week.

The incident took place on Wednesday, October 10,  around 2:45 pm, said police. The 19-year-old female victim was exiting the deli at 541 Myrtle Avenue, when the suspect punched her in the face and kept walking.

The victim was knocked to the ground by the attack and sustained bruising to her face, police said.

Video of the suspect can be seen below:

PROSPECT LEFFERTS GARDENS – Another unprovoked attack, this one in a PLG subway station, has police searching for another suspect.

The attack took place at the Winthrop 2/5 station on Monday, October 8, around 6:30 pm. A 47-year-old man was punched in the jaw by an unidentified subject who then fled the station on foot, said police.

The victim was taken to Kings County Hospital with a fractured jaw, said police. A surveillance photo of the suspect can be seen below:

FORT GREENE – A knifepoint robbery in the lobby of a Fort Greene building has police looking for a perpetrator based on surveillance photos.

The robbery took place late last month, on Saturday, September 29, around 9:15 pm, said police. In the center of the Whitman Houses in Fort Greene, the suspect followed his 24-year-old victim into the lobby of one of the buildings before pulling a knife on the man and demanding his wallet, police said.

Taking the wallet from the victim’s pocket, the suspect fled the scene, leaving the man unharmed, said police. In all, the robber made off with $50 and a bank card. Surveillance photos can be seen below:

CYPRESS HILLS – After a man grabbed a 16-year old girl inappropriately at a gas station, police are hoping the public will recognize him from surveillance video.

The incident took place at a BP Station near Broadway Junction, at 32 Jamaica Avenue, on Friday, September 28, around 11:30 am, said police. The suspect grabbed a 16-year old girl on the buttocks, then fled the area.

Surveillance video of the suspect can be seen below:

BAY RIDGE – A woman foiled a burglary in the basement of her Bay Ridge home last month, and now police want to find the suspect she chased away.

The incident took place on Wednesday, September 19, around noon, when the woman entered the basement of her home near 5th Avenue and 79th Street to find a man holding a bag of her property, said police.

When the startled suspect saw the homeowner, he fled onto the street, but she chased him and was able to recover her belongings.

Surveillance footage of the would-be burglar can be seen below:

SUNSET PARK – After a man grabbed a purse off the back of a chair in a Sunset Park bakery, police are circulating surveillance video in hopes someone will recognize the thief.

On Tuesday, September 18, the suspect entered Tung Sum Bakery at 3924 9th Avenue around 10:20 am, said police. There, he lingered long enough to slip a 49-year-old woman’s purse from the back of her chair, making off with $600 and a couple bank cards.

Surveillance video of the thief in action can be seen below:

WILLIAMSBURG – Finally, police are looking to track down four women who beat up a 23-year-old near Graham Avenue and Varet Street last month.

The attack occurred on Wednesday, September 12, around 3:30 pm, said police, when a verbal dispute escalated into a physical one. Four women punched and bit the 23-year-old female victim, throwing her to the ground. Though she didn’t go to the hospital, she suffered injuries to her face, mouth and body, said police.

Police are looking for four women in connection with the assault, and surveillance photos of the suspects can be seen below:

Anyone with information in regard to the incidents above is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM, on Twitter @NYPDTips or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577. All calls are strictly confidential.