PURSE SNATCHER
An unidentified man attacked a 51-year-old woman as she was walking along East 80th Street on Monday and seized her purse. According to the victim, an East 85th Street resident, the man approached her around 11 p.m. and demanded money. He then threw her against a pole and onto the ground as he grabbed her purse, but only took a pack of cigarettes from a small bag within the purse. The thief fled toward Fifth Avenue, and remains at large.

SHOPLIFT FEVER
One shoplifter did not know when to quit on Monday. Workers at a pharmacy on Second Avenue first confronted him outside their store around 4 p.m. after he swiped goods from their store. He argued with the workers, then fled toward East 63rd Street. A witness told the workers that the shoplifter left a shopping bag in a newspaper box on 63rd Street, so the workers went to investigate, and were confronted by the shoplifter, who told them, “That’s my stuff.” The group got into another dispute, then the thief suddenly grabbed a gold chain off the neck of one of the store workers, a 59-year-old Bronx resident, and fled toward Third Avenue. The workers chased the perp and found the chain discarded on the sidewalk. The thief has not been caught.

BODEGA BRAWL
Two men got into a fight in a Second Avenue bodega on Saturday. A 37-year-old was talking with friends around the grocery store’s entrance before the altercation at about 12:45 a.m., and then was attacked by a 27-year-old, who punched him in the face multiple times. What caused the fight was not reported, but the attacker was arrested for assault shortly after the incident.

PHONE SWIPE
A young woman riding the M86 bus was busy with her iPhone around 10 p.m. on Monday when the device was suddenly snatched from her hand. Startled, she looked up and saw a teenage boy’s back as he ran off the bus at a stop. The victim, a 26-year-old who lives on East 88th Street, stored her driver’s license and credit cards in the phone’s case. Police were able to arrest the thief, a 15-year-old, later in the day.

MEAN CUSTOMER
A rowdy patron crossed the line last week when he punched a bar worker in the face. Prior to the attack, the worker, 56, asked the 18-year-old patron and his friends to leave the Third Avenue bar around 1:30 a.m. last Thursday, Nov. 22. The patron was apparently unhappy with this request, and lashed out at the worker, causing a laceration over the worker’s right eye. The worker reported the attack to police, and the patron was arrested for assault.

Courtesy of Ben Hussman

Cash Over Easy
While most people who enter a bodega early in the morning are looking for an egg sandwich, two crooks were starving for the green, as opposed to eggs and ham. April 2 at 5 a.m., the thugs entered a store on the Upper East Side and while one stood guard, the other went around the counter, brandished a revolver at the clerk and demanded the cash in the register. After taking $500, the two men fled the scene. There have been no arrests so far in the case.

Brand Loyalty Can Only Take You So Far
Having passion for your job is always a plus, but when your enthusiasm entails trying to stop a criminal who robbed your store, employees may want to leave that to the police. Saturday, March 31 at 12:50 a.m., two males and a female entered a large convenience store on Lexington Avenue and began filling their pockets with gum and deodorant. One employee took notice of the theft and proceeded to follow the perps outside, where he was threatened with a screwdriver. The two men fled the scene and the police detained the woman who was with them. The boys in blue wish to remind citizens that confronting crooks is their job and the best way to help is to get a description and the direction in which the criminal fled.

Sidewalk Scuffle
A timeless quote from Bambi says: “If you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” The writers were not kidding. Saturday, March 31 at 2:55 p.m., two men got into an altercation on 1st Avenue. After a few minutes of quarrelling, one of the men decided to take the argument to the next level and brandished a knife at his nemesis. When the police arrived, there was no knife to be found. Both men were arrested.

Letting in Fresh Air and Deft Crooks
One lucky cat burglar took advantage of unlocked windows and a fire escape to make off with quite the payday. Thursday, March 29, a thief made his way into four apartments and did not break a single lock or window in the process. The burglar ascended the fire escape of an apartment building on East 73rd Street in the middle of the day and made off with a multitude of electronics, jewelry, sunglasses, iPads and iPods and a slew of diamond necklaces. With the warm weather coming in fast, those with fire escapes outside their window may want to reconsider leaving their windows open to the cool outside air and cunning criminals.

Keep Your Bags Close and Valuables Closer
When going out to eat or heading to a pub, remember that you are not lounging at home, safe from theft. For the past three months, deft hands have been invading the sanctity of purses and other handbags left on chairs of restaurants and pubs on the Upper East Side. The NYPD at the 21st Precinct wants to remind residents that they should keep close tabs on their belongings, keep their valuables nearby or leave the expensive stuff at home.