Boosted Backpack

Someone lifted the backpack of a man inside a chain coffeehouse on Columbus Avenue. At 11 p.m. on Monday, August 5, a 64-year-old man sat down to have a cup of coffee with his wife and placed his backpack on the back of his chair. Among other items, the man had a blank personal check from his bank account inside the pack. An unknown perpetrator removed the backpack and tried cashing the check at a bank after forging the man's signature. The victim canceled all the stolen credit cards. The items stolen included a Sony VAIO computer valued at $2,500, an Apple iPad worth $500, a Tumi wallet valued at $200, an Avent backpack worth $50. In all, the man's coffee break wound up costing him $3,250.