Police Blotter
19th Precinct
5 on 1
An Upper East Side resident was
pelted by ice balls after being attacked
by a group of young men on the west
side of Lexington Ave.
On March 4, around 6 p.m., the
50-year-old victim was on his way home
from work when he was grabbed and
forcibly turned around by a group of fi ve
men. One member of the group then began
to punch him in the face. While the
victim fought back, the assailant then
scooped up ice from off the ground and
threw it at him before running of westbound
on E. 89th St. toward Park Ave.
The motive of the surprise attack is
still unclear.
Sucker-punch plot
A random punch to the back was actually
a premeditated set-up to steal a
cell phone, according to police.
On March 9 at about 4:32 p.m., a
37-year-old man was using his Samsung
Galaxy J6 while walking on the north
side of E. 72nd St. when he was suddenly
hit on the right shoulder from behind.
When he turned around to see who had
struck him, he was punched in the face,
causing him to drop his cell phone.
The ski mask-wearing assailant then
grabbed the Galaxy and sprinted to a
getaway car, a sports sedan, and took
off.
Van-tastic bust
Police said the caught a man on
March 10 who was wanted for multiple
truck burglaries.
Around 5:02 p.m., offi cers pulled
over a man driving a van at 1166 Second
Ave., near E. 62nd St., after a licenseplate
reader reported the vehicle as stolen.
Offi cers then discovered that the
driver was operating the vehicle with
a suspended license and that the 2004
gray Nissan station wagon was wanted
in connection with a burglary pattern.
The fi rst burglary occurred Dec. 5,
2018, at 1:30 p.m. The driver of a commercial
truck stopped at 353 Lexington
Ave., at E. 40th St., to make at delivery
but was unable to lock the truck’s back
door. Once the driver returned to the
parked vehicle, he noticed that a $670
LGTV, a $648 Sony TV and a $500
Samsung TV were missing from it.
The second burglary occurred Feb.
26, around 5:55 p.m. when a woman
witnessed someone taking a package
from the back of a DHL Express Delivery
truck and placing it into his own
truck. The package contained $2,295
worth of items inside.
20th Precinct
Church thief
A woman learned it only takes a second
to be robbed, even in church.
On Feb. 27, at 11:31 a.m., a visitor
at St. Paul the Apostle’s Church, at 8
Columbus Ave., at W. 60th St., knelt at
the altar to pray, leaving her purse unattended
on the pew behind her. When the
57-year-old worshiper turned around to
get up and leave, she noticed her bag
missing.
Along with the purse, the thief took
off with the victim’s credit cards, Medicare
card, keys, Social Security card,
New York State driver’s license and
some medication.
Police are still searching for the bagnapper.
Luckily, a civilian brought the
victim’s medication to the police Transit
District station after fi nding it tossed
tossed at the 59th St./Columbus Circle
subway station.
Sudoku shocker
On March 1, a 62-year-old man from
Hamilton Heights worked out at the
Gertrude Ederle Recreation Center, at
232 W. 60th St.
Afterward, he headed to the locker
room and sat in front of locker No. 98,
where he had placed his belongings before
exercising. But before opening the
locker, he just sat in front the locker
room to do some Sudoku puzzles.
After a few minutes of exercising his
mind, he opened his locker to discover
that he had lost more than his game of
Sudoku. Locker No. 98 was unlocked
and his cell phone and wallet were missing
from inside.
The locker-room thief made off with
the victim’s New York state ID, Amex
Gold card, Amex EveryDay card, TD
Bank card, Alcatel phone with a neongreen
cover worth $89, Social Security
card, Emblem Health card, MetroCard,
Parks Department recreation center
card and $8 cash.
Preteen thieves
A Florida woman was helped by a fellow
Sunshine Stater when two kids tried
to steal her purse at a coffee shop.
On March 9, at 6:05 p.m., a 20-yearold
woman from Florida was having
coffee with a friend at the Starbucks at
1841 Broadway, near W. 60th St. when
two preteens grabbed her purse from off
the table.
The young wannabe thieves ran off
with the bag, but a good Samaritan
chased the duo down and retrieved the
stolen purse. The helper was a 49-yearold
man from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
The young troublemakers were arrested
at the corner of Columbus Ave.
and W. 60th St. It was the 12-year-old
boy of the pair that snatched the bag,
which had a blue Coach wallet, a Florida
State ID, a Bank of America Visa debit
card and $400 cash inside.
Smooth operator
Police are searching for man that
stole a huge amount of face cream from
a Duane Reade at 325 Columbus Ave.,
at W. 75th St.
On March 4, at about 9:57 p.m. a
Duane Reade employee noticed a shopper
place 25 Vichy skincare items, 60 La
Roche Posay items and 39 Neutrogena
products into a bag. The shopper then
ran out of the store in an unknown direction,
making off with $4,020 worth
of skincare products.
Bed, Bath and…Hey!
A young woman had thousands of
dollars worth of property stolen when
she took her eyes off her purse as she
shopped.
On Sat., March 9, at 7:30 p.m. a
25-year-old shopper at Bed, Bath and
Beyond, at 1932 Broadway, at W. 65th
St., set her Chanel purse in the front of
her shopping cart. When she went to
check out, she realized that her purse
was missing along a dozen other pricey
items.
The thief took off with the $3,000
Chanel purse, a $1,200 Chanel wallet,
$100 worth of silver and pearl earrings,
a $100 silver ring, $159 Apple airpods,
four credit cards, a $500 key ring, $135
worth of gift cards, a $25 hairbrush,
$10 MetroCard, New York State ID and
$40 cash.
Alejandra
O’Connell-Domenech
‘Ridin’ dirty’: Cops catch scooter guy packing heroin
BY ALEJANDRA
O’CONNELL-DOMENECH
A pair of Upper East
Side police offi cers
wound up notching
a low-level drug bust when
they pulled over a man riding
a scooter without a license
plate last week.
Around 6:32 p.m. on
Sat., March 9, Offi cers
Hamdy and Conley from
the 19th Precinct pulled
over a man, 45, on a motorized
scooter at the corner
of Lexington Ave. and
E. 96th St.
When asked to show a
driver’s license, the rider
instead gave the offi cers a
New York State picture ID
card. The cops discovered
that he had a suspended license
and that the scooter
also was unregistered and
uninsured.
The offi cers then discovered
10 small bags of heroin
with red “Gucci” stamps
on the man.
The 19th Precinct tweeted
out a photo of the vehicle
and the heroin decks with
the caption, “We caught
him ridin’ dirty.”
It’s a reference to the refrain
of rapper Chamillionaire’s
2005 hit “Ridin’.”
COURTESY 19TH PRECINCT
Officers Hamdy and Conley from the 19th Precinct pulled over a man on a motorized scooter
at the corner of Lexington Ave. and E. 96th St. for not having a license plate. They soon
found out he was packing bags of heroin.
4 March 21 - April 3, 2019 MEX Schneps Media