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By Matthew Perlman
Brooklyn Daily
88th Precinct
Fort Greene–Clinton Hill
Hack attack
Authorities arrested a man who they said attacked a cabbie from the back seat of a taxi on Sept. 7 at the intersection of Clifton and Saint James places.
The 61-year-old driver told cops he had stopped at the corner at 7:40 am when his passenger started threatening to beat him and take his belongings. Then the 28-year-old fare-gone-wrong started punching the driver in the back of the head and trying to break down the cab’s partition by punching and pulling on it, according to a police report.
The driver panicked and started to drive away, crashing into the car in front of him, the report says. Police arrived and cuffed the punch-happy passenger, who resisted arrest, cops said.
Violence in the shelter
There were two attacks inside the women’s shelter on Tillary Street this week.
• Cops cuffed a 25-year-old woman on Sept. 2 for allegedly assaulting another woman of the same age with the metal end of a hair pick.
The two women were in an argument in the shelter between Prince and Navy streets at 11:27 pm, when one of the woman pulled out a hair pick and started stabbing the other boarder, according to a police report. The victim suffered cuts to her face, ear, and left arm, the report says.
• Three days later, police arrested a 42-year-old woman who they said beat a fellow boarder with a wet floor sign.
The 52-year-old victim told cops she was sitting in her room at 11 pm when the other woman came in and started hitting her with the sign in the head, shoulder, and arm. Then the suspect allegedly started scratching and punching her, cops said.
Breakout of break-ins
Burglars struck four homes in the precinct this week, making off with a variety of property. Here’s the rundown:
• Someone broke into a Carlton Avenue apartment sometime overnight on Sept. 1, and stole a contractor’s tools, cops said.
The 38-year-old handyman said he left the tools and some plumbing components in the apartment, between DeKalb and Lafayette avenues, at 5 pm and when he returned at 9 the next morning they were gone. The thief got in by clipping a chain that secured the door, cops said. The burglar made off with a miter saw, a screwdriver, some copper pipe, and a shower assembly, police said.
• Cops arrested a man who they said broke into a Steuben Street home on Sept. 2 and stole a 46-inch television set.
A video showed the suspected sneak into the residence between Park and Myrtle avenues by prying open the front door and removing the tube at 12:15 am, cops said. Police collared the 42-year-old suspect at 8:45 pm on Sept. 7, inside a building on Tompkins Avenue between Greene and Lexington avenues, according to a police report.
• A burglar struck a Saint James Place apartment on Sept. 4, making off with a bicycle and some electronics, cops said.
The 25-year-old resident of the apartment, which is between Lafayette and Greene avenues, reported to police that she left her home at 8:30 am and returned at 11:45 that night to find the items missing. There was no damage to the door, and police suspect the guy got out through the basement or front lobby, according to the report. The burglar made off with a Biria Cruiser, a camera, a laptop, and an electronic tablet.
• A quiet culprit stole a cellphone and an electronic tablet from an apartment on Cambridge Place between gates and Greene avenues on Sept. 7, authorities said.
The 48-year-old resident told police she heard her dog barking at 2:45 am, and when her husband got up to check it out he found the front window and door wide open. The next day they noticed the electronics were gone, cops said.
In and out
A fast-moving fiend smashed the window of a parked car near the corner of Fulton Street and Clinton Avenue on Sept. 1, making off with a woman’s purse, police reported.
The 30-year-old victim told cops she parked her car at 4:30 am and ran into the deli, leaving her purse on the front passenger-side seat. When she came out 15 minutes later, the window was busted and the bag was gone, she said. The bag contained a debit card, a physician’s badge, and prescription pads from the Brooklyn Hospital Center, according to a police report.
Motor mayhem
People reported two vehicle robberies in the precinct last week, a motorcycle and a car.
• A 41-year-old man told cops he saw his motorcycle in his driveway, on Clermont Avenue between Park and Myrtle avenues, at 10:30 pm on Sept. 2. But when he returned at 7 am the next day it was gone, he said.
• A 54-year-old man reported to police that his son parked his 2000 Pontiac Grand AM at 8:30 am on Sept. 3, near the corner of Lafayette Avenue and Saint James Place before he went to school. When his son returned at 3:30 pm the car was gone, cops said.
— Matthew Perlman