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By Matthew Perlman
Brooklyn Daily
88th Precinct
Fort Greene–Clinton Hill
Car robberies continue
After a spat of recent car break-ins in the 88th Precinct during the last few weeks, cops were warning people not to keep their valuables in their vehicles, in spite of an arrest for some of the crimes. And this week, we can see why.
• Cops said someone broke into a car parked on Adelphi Street on March 13, breaking the window and stealing a purse from the passenger seat.
The 49-year-old victim told police she parked the car between Dekalb and Willoughby avenues at 5:30 pm, and when she returned a short while later, the deed had been done. She said the bag contained her phone, some cash, and a pair of prescription glasses.
• Cops also a said someone took a backpack from inside a work truck on Myrtle Avenue on March 10.
The 31-year-old victim said he parked the truck at the corner of Ryerson Place at 6 pm, and noticed his bag gone when he got back. There was no broken window in this incident, and the bag contained $20 in cash plus credit cards, police said.
Chasing the chump
A burglar was thwarted when a witness caught and held a him after he saw the thief stealing packages from inside his building on Clinton Avenue, police say.
The heroic civilian told police he saw the suspect picking up packages inside his building between Fulton Street and Gates Avenue at 4:43 pm, and told him stop. Then he chased the 45-year-old perp for a block, turning on to Vanderbilt Avenue before catching and holding him until police arrived, according to the report.
Cops charged the suspect with the Clinton Avenue burglary, and a similar package snagging scheme that took place on March 3 in a building on S. Oxford Street between Atlantic Avenue and Hanson Place. Cops said the suspect is seen on video in that burglary, stealing a package that contained clothing.
Group attacks
Two groups of marauders robbed two people in separate incidents on March 15.
• In the first robbery, three punks held up a person at knifepoint on Saint James Place.
The victim told cops they were walking on Saint James Place towards Greene Avenue at 3:10 pm when the three guys came up from behind, demanded money, and pulled out a knife. They said two of the goons held their arms, while the third punched him in face before taking $80 in cash from his pocket.
• The same day at 5:23 pm, cops said four thugs tried to take a 35-year-old man’s bicycle after beating him with a metal pipe on Rockwell Place near Lafayette Avenue. They took off without the bike, police said.
Paintball sniper
Cops said someone shot a 50-year-old man with a paintball from inside an apartment in the Ingersoll Houses on March 12.
The victim told police he was standing in the parking lot on Carlton Avenue near the corner of Park Avenue at 12:30 pm when a frozen paintball hit him in the torso. He said he thought it came from an apartment on the second floor of a nearby building.
Twice in one night
Police said two people were pistol whipped in front of a bar on Myrtle Avenue in two separate incidents on March 16.
• The first assault happened outside the tavern between Grand Avenue and Steuben Street at 3 am, when a 28-year-old man was struck in the head with a black hand gun, police said. That victim was uncooperative, according to the report.
• An hour later, a 21-year-old woman was struck in the face and head with a black hand gun at the same bar, police said.
The victim told police she got into an argument with a woman in front of the bar, and that a guy come out of no where and started hitting her with the gun. She said he jumped in a white and gray suburban that was parked at the curb, and drove away on Myrtle heading towards Grand.
Bike burglaries
Someone tried to steal bikes from apartment buildings in two separate events.
• A 32-year-old cyclist said someone tried to steal two bikes from his Fort Greene Place hallway on March 14, but only got away with one.
The victim told cops he heard loud noises coming from outside his apartment, between Dekalb and Lafayette avenues, at 4:40 am. When he opened the door to investigate, he saw that his two bikes were missing and immediately got dressed and ran outside, according to the police report. He saw the thief trying to ride away on one of the bikes while holding onto the other, cops said. The victim told police he was able to grab the bike the guy was holding, but he took off on the other.
• Police said someone stole another bike from the hallway of a Fulton Street building in the early morning hours of March 10.
The 46-year-old victim, who lives between Grand Avenue and Downing Street, told police she saw the bike at 2 am, and when she got up at 9 am, the bike was gone.
Crowd crime
A bandit swiped a phone out of a woman’s hand while she was at a crowded party on Waverly Avenue on March 16.
The victim said she was holding the phone in her hand at the party between Fulton Street and Atlantic Avenue at 3:30 am, when someone snagged it and ran into the crowd.
— Matthew Perlman