A 34-year-old woman was in her apartment on Amsterdam Avenue on Jan. 26 with her friend. The victim said that while her friend was in her apartment, her engagement ring and other jewelry were stolen. The diamond engagement ring was worth $7,500 and the other jewelry totaled $600. Police are on the lookout for the suspect, a 30-year-old, 5’3” Hispanic woman. No arrests have yet been made.

Moving Day Troubles

A 37-year-old woman said that while she was moving into her new apartment on West 67th Street on Jan. 25, she placed her two handbags on a shelf in a closet. The woman reported to police that her pocketbooks were taken at some point during the move when only the moving company had access to her apartment. There were no signs of forced entry and no cameras present at the scene. A Chanel bag worth $1,750 and a Bottega Veneta bag worth $750 were stolen.

Man Stabs Boss With a Pen

On Feb. 1, a man reported that on the sidewalk on West 74th Street, his worker became upset while he was on the phone with his mother. The employee hung up the phone and proceeded to stab his boss in the forehead with a pen. The victim, a 31-year-old man from the Bronx, had cuts and lacerations on his head. The 21-year-old assailant was arrested for assault on location.

Violent Phone Thieves

On Jan. 27, a 35-year-old man was waiting for a taxi in front of a restaurant on Amsterdam Avenue, to take him home to his apartment on Broadway. While he was waiting, he told police he was approached by three men. One of them said, “Do you want me to stab you? Let me get your phone.” The victim put his phone away, but another one of the perpetrators grabbed the iPhone and began to beat him. The victim was knocked unconscious from the assault. When he came to, he took a taxi home, but refused medical attention. There were cameras in the area and police are on the lookout for a Hispanic male, believed to be 23 years old, wearing a gray sweater.

Assailant Claims to Have Firearm, Steals Phone

A teenager who lives on Broadway was approached by an unknown man on West 78th Street on Jan. 29th. The boy said the man lifted his jacket, simulating a firearm and said, “Ya see this?” The perpetrator told his victim to hand over his phone and said, “If you call the cops, pops are going to happen.” The victim saw his assailant walk Northbound on West End Avenue. Police are on the lookout for a black man wearing a black leather jacket.

Woman’s Money Goes Missing After Opera

On Jan. 29, a woman took the bus to see the opera at Lincoln Center. Afterward, she took the bus back to her apartment. While on the bus, she noticed her wallet was missing. The victim called her bank, and found out that two unauthorized transactions had occurred on her account: $1,500 at a computer store, among other smaller charges. In all, the woman’s wallet, credit card and debit card were taken.

THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS STOLEN FROM WOMAN’S BANK ACCOUNT
A 37-year-old woman went to use her bank account online last Monday from inside her apartment on Broadway, when she discovered that her account had been frozen. After contacting her bank, she was informed that an unknown perpetrator went into her bank with fake identification and was able to withdraw $4,500. A second attempt to withdraw more money was denied by the bank. In addition, the unknown person opened up a credit card account in her name. No arrests have yet been made.

A BITING THEFT CASE
A 27-year-old woman went to her place of work at a dentist’s office on Broadway on Jan. 25, and reported there was missing dental equipment, totaling over $22,000 in value. She said the theft had occurred sometime between Jan. 15 and 25. The unknown perpetrator stole eight dental headpieces and four intra-oral cameras. Police do not yet have a lead, but if arrested the charge will be grand larceny.

PUNCHED IN THE NOSE FOR IPHONE
On Tuesday, Jan. 24, a 21-year-old man said he was entering the 79th Street subway when an unknown man started following him. The man said, “Give me your phone,” and then struck his victim in the nose. The assailant snatched the phone and fled. The victim was then taken to the hospital. He did not have a tracking app installed, so the phone was not recovered. The surrounding locations do, however, have street cameras. Police are on the lookout for a Hispanic man around 20 years old and six feet tall, wearing a black sweatshirt and a black doo-rag.

WOMAN HIT UP FOR $1,300 ON 85TH STREET
On Friday, Jan. 25, a 37-year-old woman was walking down West 85th Street when she was approached by an unknown man wearing a mask. The man, while keeping his hand in his pocket, asked, “Am I on 85th Street?” When the woman answered, he said, “Give me all your money; don’t be stupid.” The victim says she gave him $1,300. The assailant then instructed her to walk toward Columbus Avenue and not look back. She complied. Police are on the lookout for a black man wearing a black coat, approximately 5’10” and 35 years old, wearing a dark mask at the time of the robbery.

THIEF BUYS $4,000 WORTH OF AUTO GOODS WITH FORGED CREDIT CARD
A 32-year-old male reported that when he was in his apartment at West 73rd Street on Jan. 23, he discovered that an unknown person used his checking account information to purchase almost $4,000 of auto parts from a local shop. The incident occurred sometime in mid-December. The victim was in possession of his debit card at the time of the theft, so the credit cards were forged. No arrests have yet been made.

THEFT ON 88TH STREET
At 3 a.m. on Jan. 22, a 22-year-old man was walking home on the Upper East Side. On East 88th Street, he told police, three young black males approached him. One of them allegedly said, “Give me your wallet, do you have any money?” Another punched the victim in the face, while the third one kicked him. Then, one of the men went through the victim’s pockets and took his cellphone and wallet. One perpetrator told him to count backward from 1,000, and not to look back because “we know where you live,” and his partner in crime told the victim, “We can shoot you right now.” The assailants then fled on foot. Police searched the area, but no one was found, and no arrests have been made.

MAN HIT BY WOMAN WIELDING CANE
A 46-year-old man was on an MTA bus on Jan. 21 during evening rush hour when he saw a woman in front of him attempt to hit a child with her cane. The man tried to restrain the woman, who then turned around and struck him in the left eye with her cane. A nearby witness, a 48-year-old man from the Bronx, confirmed these events. The 66-year-old woman was arrested for assault, but at most, she will be charged with a misdemeanor.

EX-BOYFRIEND MAKES TROUBLE
On Jan. 20, a 21-year-old woman was returning home to her apartment on East 89th Street when she was approached by her ex-boyfriend. She told police he then proceeded to slap her and drag her down the building stairs. The young woman did not suffer any injuries, but her cellphone was damaged. Police are still on the lookout for the assailant, a 30-year-old Hispanic male, 5’8”, who was wearing a black jacket and jeans at the time of the attack.

PHONE SCAM SNAGS TWO MORE VICTIMS
In what is starting to emerge as a pattern of scams targeting elderly people, an 89-year-old man and 64-year-old female reported getting a phone call from an unknown person on Jan. 17 in their apartment on East 76th Street. The caller claimed to be their granddaughter, saying she had been arrested in North Carolina. The caller instructed the couple to wire $14,700 for bail in California. The victims sent over the money, and soon after, received another call asking for an additional $3,950. At this point, they called their granddaughter, who said that she had actually not been arrested. In total, they were swindled out of over $18,000.

CELLPHONE SNATCHER
On Jan. 17, a 33-year-old woman was walking on Lexington Avenue and East 95th Street, when an unknown woman approached her and started yelling at her in Spanish. The perp then grabbed the cellphone out of the woman’s hand and fled. She was last seen running eastbound on 95th Street. The woman’s iPhone, worth $800, was stolen, and has not been retrieved.

YOUTHS’ PHONES SWIPED

Last Monday, three male middle-school-aged friends were walking down West 83rd Street between Amsterdam Avenue and Broadway, when two unknown male youths approached them. One perp told the boys, “If you don’t give me your phone, I’ll shoot,” and patted his jacket, indicating a hidden gun. One youth gave up his phone, while one suspect grabbed another boy’s backpack and swiped his phone. The muggers warned the victims, “not a word,” and they walked away. In total, one Droid and another cellphone were stolen.

TWO SENIORS SWINDLED
Last Thursday, a 74-year-old Upper West Side resident reported a disturbing discovery to police. After the woman noticed that someone was withdrawing money from the joint account she shares with her 90-year-old mother, she investigated with Chase bank. She was shocked to find that an unknown person had been taking money from her mother’s accounts for the past two years—to the tune of $33,753. The elderly mother had lost her bank card, and her daughter told police neither she nor her mother has any idea who could have gained access to her funds.

I BROKE INTO AN APARTMENT AND ALL I GOT WAS THIS LOUSY LOCKBOX
A 36-year-old woman returned from vacation last Tuesday to find that her apartment on West 81st Street had been broken into. Her glass patio door was shattered, but all that was stolen was an empty lockbox. The break-in occurred sometime between Dec. 31 and Jan. 8. During this time, the only person with access to the apartment was her pet caretaker, the victim said. No arrests have been made.

CON MEN DUPE ELDERLY WOMAN
Last Monday, an 81-year-old woman living at Central Park West received a phone call from a man posing as her grandson, who said he was in jail in Mexico City. Another man, claiming to be a sergeant from the American Embassy, told the woman to send $21,000 in bail. The victim wired over the money. Another man on the phone asked for an additional $1,800 dollars, which she sent over, but the transaction did not go through. Afterward, the victim spoke with her real grandson, who apparently was at work in New York at the time of the phone calls. The con men’s calls emanated from the 514 (Montreal) area code.

CREDIT CARD THIEF MAKES ‘YUMMY’ PURCHASES
A 76-year-old man living at West 72nd Street reported a credit card theft last Tuesday. He had received a phone call from Citibank informing him of unauthorized transactions on his credit card totaling $5,300 made by Yummy Tummy Catering. The victim could not find his credit card, which is usually at home, and canceled the card. The theft occurred sometime between Nov. 26 and Jan. 8.

“It’s that time of year. This is what we get on the Upper East Side,” said Officer Tarik Hunter, the 19th Police Precinct’s crime prevention specialist. He cited eight reported incidents of pickpocketing in his district since August, most of which have occurred in the past month. This increase mirrors last year’s numbers, and, as Hunter emphasized, only accounts for thefts that have been reported to NYPD: Many people do not realize that their belongings are missing until well after the incident, he said, so they are not sure if they were robbed or simply lost something.

A community affairs officer in Midtown North, Manhattan’s 18th Precinct, confirmed a similar spike in larcenies in his district. “It’s usually the same [each year],” he said, and added that the city’s heavily commercial areas endure a regular holiday increase in shoplifting as well as pickpocketing.
Thefts are, indeed, up across the city this month in keeping with annual trends, the NYPD reported. As well as in crowded public transportation vehicles, they said that many sneaky crooks strike in restaurants, bars and outdoor benches, where absent-minded visitors sometimes leave bags unattended and ripe for picking.

“I’m surprised. I haven’t heard of any [increase],” said John Barrett, a commuter waiting at a bus stop along Madison Avenue, whose buses have been heaviest hit by Upper East side pickpockets, according to Officer Hunter. “Pickpockets—that sounds like something from Charles Dickens.”
Despite his startled reaction, Barrett said that he is diligent in guarding his belongings on public transportation, and checks his pockets whenever someone brushes against him—a habit that he says has won him more than a few mean looks from innocent passersby. “It’s so quick that somebody can take your stuff and leave with it,” he said. “I just try to take precautions.”

Another bus rider was less surprised to hear about the holiday-time thieves. “I’m a New Yorker wherever I go,” said Peggy McDermott-Roberts, a city native who recently returned from a trip to California. “I look at my purse 29 times before and after I get on any bus.” She noticed that on her return to the city, people seemed more anxious on public transport around this time of the year, a bit more frenzied and less attentive.

A third commuter, Sandra Hasman, attributed the increase in thefts to the city’s seasonal influx of tourists. “There are so many more out-of-towners here for the holiday,” she observed. The NYPD confirmed that tourists were prime targets for pickpockets, because they tend to be less aware of the danger and more preoccupied with navigating the city.

However, locals are always at risk, too, officers emphasized. According to an NYPD safety report, pickpockets often hit crowds on bus or subway rides when passengers are so crammed together that it is hard to distinguish the feeling of a sneaky hand. New York pickpockets are also known to orchestrate some elaborate distractions, like a staged shouting match between two apparent strangers, to hold commuters’ attention long enough to steal from them.

The NYPD is taking measures to combat the annual spike, but they say that the best prevention is awareness. Use handbags with zippers and locks, they recommend, and never carry wallets in back pockets. If your find your pocket picked on a bus or train, they suggest that you immediately yell out to warn passengers and the driver / conductor. In their words, “Don’t be afraid to be loud.”

Phantom Furniture
An employee at the furniture store  was fired and reported to police for using a little too much imagination on the job. The 21-year-old worker processed fraudulent returns for inventory that never existed, then allegedly sold the store credit to friends to purchase more furniture at the store. The total stolen credit was for $3,449.17.

Hot Spot Targeted
The owner of a popular Upper West Side restaurant learned last week that his business had been the victim of fraud. The man’s bank contacted him to inform him that two fraudulent checks had been drawn on his business checking account and deposited into a different account at another bank. The two checks were for $3,189.76 each; the victim had no idea who might have access to his account information.

Phone Thefts Abound
Criminals are still on the lookout for iPhones and other expensive smart phones, and the victims are often young teens walking home from school. One recent theft in the neighborhood occurred when a man approached a woman and asked for the time; when she checked her iPhone and put it back in her purse, the perp grabbed it from her bag and ran away. Other incidents involve two perpetrators approaching young kids and intimidating them into giving up their phones.

Pricey Instruments Taken
A 24-year-old musician was dining late at night with her friend at a bar on the Upper West Side last Friday night. She placed her French horn in its case at her feet, and she and her companion left the bar briefly before she remembered the instrument. By the time she returned five minutes later, the $8,000 horn was gone, and the bartender said he had seen a man come in and leave with the bag.
The same day at the Juilliard School, a 19-year-old student was practicing violin in one of the practice rooms. She left the instrument in the room to pack up her things, and when she got it back to her dorm room and opened the case, the double-bass bow, worth $1,700, was missing.

Silent Hold-Up
A man walked into the Apple Bank on Broadway last Friday during the day and conducted a robbery without saying a word. He held up a handwritten note to the plexiglass of the teller window that read “I have a gun, no dye pack, no bait, $50 bills and $100 bills, this is a robbery.” The teller forked over $1,700 in cash as instructed, which the perp placed into a black nylon bag. The robber is described as a white 30-year-old man with grey hair.

Crime Overkill

How many guys does it take to steal two iPhones, a $40 Metrocard and $31 in cash? Five, apparently, with a semi-automatic firearm thrown into the mix. A posse of five perpetrators accosted two young men on Amsterdam Avenue near West 68th Street at about 2:30 a.m. on Monday. The group showed the men the gun and racked the slide on the weapon, demanding cash and their phones. The perps made off with their loot—pretty paltry when split five ways—and fled on foot.

Faulty Memory, Missing Jewelry

A 60-year-old woman reported to police that the jewelry she had shown to her roommate and to one of her home health aides had gone missing. The woman said that she has had several aides at different times and could not remember to whom she showed the jewelry. She said that she kept the valuables in her bedroom safe but did not lock it. The missing items, which are worth a total of $3,579, include a $2,000 gold and diamond ring and gold wedding bands worth $1,000.

Happy Healthy Thieves

In the middle of the day last Friday, three brazen thieves—two women and one man working together—stormed a Rite Aid on Amsterdam Avenue and grabbed dozens of items off the store shelves. The trio made off with $3,042 worth of drugstore products.

Short on Cash

A 41-year-old man was arrested early Saturday morning after he was caught red-handed rifling through a stolen purse. The man had been drinking at a local pub and was caught without the funds to pay for his $69 bar tab at the end of the evening. He snagged a woman’s purse from her chair and snuck it into the men’s bathroom to snatch her credit cards, but was found out before he could do any damage.

Breaking the Lease

Some people just don’t read the fine print on their rental agreements. A woman reported to police last week that her tenant, to whom she had rented a fully furnished apartment, apparently didn’t understand that the furnishings were not hers to keep and move as she pleased. The lessee vacated the apartment and stole two televisions worth over $1,000, as well as the cable boxes, a lamp, TV stand and armoire, together worth $2,598.

Drinking Games

A pair of friends were drinking together at one of their apartments on West 62nd Street last Tuesday. All was going well until they got into a verbal spat, which quickly escalated to violence when the woman picked up a glass cup used for decoration and decided to use it instead as a weapon, smashing it into her male buddy’s face. The man suffered a laceration, severe bleeding and bruising and was rushed to Roosevelt Hospital for treatment.

Grocery Store Grabber

A woman was shopping at Trader Joe’s around noon last Friday, her purse in her cart as she searched for cheap produce. When she got to the checkout, however, she discovered that her wallet was missing. By the time she walked over to a local Citibank branch to report her credit cards stolen, the bank told her that someone had used her card to purchase a $510 computer at Best Buy.