Online Scammer
Last week, a woman put up a Craigslist ad to sell some of her furniture. She received a response and a check for $2,830, well over her asking price, from a man who instructed her to keep a portion as payment and wire the balance to his shipping company. Lo and behold, the check bounced, the victim couldn’t stop her wire transfer and she lost her money.

Unpleasant Homecoming
An Upper West Side woman returned home from a trip to Boston to find her $10,000 Cartier watch and $15,000 earrings missing from a tray on her bureau. She reported that her bedroom was unlocked but that only her building manager and cleaning lady had access to the apartment.

Sneaky Tool Thief
An independent contractor for the Department of Parks and Recreation reported that he had stored several pricey tools and an air compressor worth $12,000 in a locked facility in Central Park. When he returned to retrieve them, he found the deadbolt cut and everything gone.

Impersonating Impostor
An unknown man entered a Bank of America branch earlier this month and attempted to withdraw $6,500 in cash from an account that evidently did not belong to him. The man knew his intended victim’s checking account number, PIN and Social Security number, and had a phony New Jersey driver’s license. When the teller asked for additional identification, the fake fled. The lucky almost-victim told police that his debit card had never been out of his possession.
Armed Stickup
On Thursday, Jan. 19, at about 9 p.m., a woman was walking on West End Avenue near West 63rd Street when a masked man approached her from behind, pointed a gun at her chest and told her, “Give me your phone and your bag” and “Shut the [expletive] up.” The woman handed over her belongings and ran in the opposite direction to safety. The suspect is described as a light-skinned male, 5-foot-4, 140 pounds, wearing dark clothing.

Trouble in Paradise
A man let his girlfriend into his apartment to pick up some things that belonged to her, then asked her to leave. When she refused, he called the police, which prompted her to finally make an exit. After she left, however, the man noticed that a $5,000 gold bracelet, $500 in cash and a framed $50 bill had also vacated the premises.

Electronics Junkie
A woman came home last Friday and discovered her apartment in disarray and several items missing. A thief made off with her Nook e-reader, a $400 Sony camera, an iPod Nano and a $150 Canon camera, as well as several pieces of metal jewelry. Police at the scene said that an upstairs window had a weak lock and showed signs of a possible forced entry.

Teenage Phone Snatcher
A woman was walking on Amsterdam Avenue near West 73rd Street when a 15-year-old male in a black hoodie and black backpack snuck up behind her and snatched her iPhone out of her hand before running off. The victim chased him a short distance before losing sight of her robber and her phone. The suspect is described as light-skinned, 4-foot-10, 100 pounds.

Now You See It…
A man in his fifties has parked his car in the same spot on West 74th Street for years. After finishing up a day at the office last week, he returned to find his white 2000 Voyager minivan had been stolen.

Who Said Weed
Makes You Mellow?
On Wednesday, Jan. 11, an officer was having trouble arresting a 29-year-old male for possession of two large bags of marijuana on Riverside Drive. After struggling with the dope smoker, the officer’s day went from bad to worse as the defendant’s 60-year-old girlfriend entered the fray. The woman jumped on the officer’s back, scratching and clawing at his neck and head, which left him with lacerations. Both were taken into custody for the felony assault.
Welcome to the USA
On Friday, Jan. 6, a 19-year-old French man was taking an evening stroll at the southeast corner of Central Park West at West 71st Street when he was accosted by four men, two of whom brandished knifes. Two of the men held him at knifepoint while the others stood guard, demanding his watch, belt and French Republic identification card. In total, the young man lost almost $8,000 worth of merchandise. The perpetrators are still at large.

Electric Goodie Getaway
A woman in her mid-fifties placed an Apple iPad and a Nikon digital camera in a jewelry box then hid it in an armoire before leaving her apartment at Central Park West for a three-day vacation. When  she returned home on Jan. 12, she discovered that she had been the victim of a robbery. Upon entering her bedroom, she found her armoire in disarray and the two items missing. There were no signs of forced entry, according to police.

Paging Flash Gordon
A woman in her late twenties had a Zehig Aesthetics Laser shipped to her office on West 86th Street on Dec. 19. The package arrived with no issues, but after the woman had locked her office for the night, a crook made his way into the office and pilfered the piece, which is worth over $12,000. The woman reported the item stolen on Tuesday, Jan. 10.

Safe Not So Safe
A bartender closed up shop at a popular watering hole on Columbus Avenue Dec. 15 and put the night’s earnings in a safe. When the manager opened the safe later the next morning, the money—roughly $3,000—was gone. Surveillance video showed another employee had entered the office overnight and left a few minutes later. That employee has since disappeared and no one knows where he is.

Rooftop Burglary
Some college roommates who live in an apartment on 73rd Street came home after work and school Dec. 16 to discover that their apartment had been trashed and more than $6,500 in goods had been stolen, including three Macbooks, a guitar, Canon DSLR camera and multiple amplifiers and other music-making equipment.

Police suspect the criminals came over the roof and entered through a sliding door that doesn’t lock. No one in the building saw or heard anything.

Apple Keeps Doctors Away, Brings Thieves Instead
Apple products seem to be the premier item of choice for thieves. In another burglary Dec. 16, a 22-year-old female came home to her apartment on the Upper West Side at 2:40 a.m. to discover that her apartment had been tossed and two Macbook Pros and a Sony camera, among other items, had been stolen.

Cold-Weather Bandits
A chi-chi clothing store on Columbus Avenue was robbed Dec. 17. A man and woman walked into the store; while the woman chatted with the cashier, the man grabbed three scarves and four hats off a table and shoved them into a bag. The two suspects fled on foot in opposite directions.

Ladies, Keep Your Eyes on Your Purses
Several reports were filed this week of unattended bags and wallets going missing. Police remind residents to be especially cautious during the holiday shopping season and to keep your belongings in sight.

A Game of Adult Tag
A man was talking on his cell phone outside a children’s playground near 82nd Street and Riverside Drive Dec. 14 when a robber snatched the phone out of his hand and took off running. Here’s hoping that the kids thought they were playing a game of adult tag.

Scary Stickups
A liquor store employee was robbed at knifepoint after a woman called for delivery of a $75 bottle of alcohol and specified that he also bring $100 in change. When the employee arrived at the address, no one answered, but an unknown man approached and demanded “everything you’ve got,” which included the booze, cash, employee’s bookbag and wallet.

A woman was the victim of a push-in robbery attempt when an unknown man followed her into her building after she went outside to smoke a cigarette. The man pushed her against a wall, felt her pockets and then fled empty-handed. The woman was unhurt.

High End Heists
An Upper West Side woman noticed that some fraudulent charges had been made on her debit card, and that $28,650 worth of jewelry, including a $6,000 diamond art deco necklace, a $2,000 ruby-and-gold ring and other pricey items, were missing from her bedroom. She claims that her roommate is the only person with access to the debit card and jewelry, though she admitted that she didn’t see take anything. No arrest was made.

A guest of the Phillips Club hotel on West 66th Street reported that she left a $100,000 (you read that right) cross necklace with black diamonds, a $15,000 Cartier watch and a $6,000 gold heart pendant with white and yellow diamonds in a bag in her room, only to find them missing on her return.

Broken Appliance Thief on the Loose!
A man reported five stoves, five refrigerators and 10 heavy-duty shelves missing from the storage area of his West 59th Street building, where they were awaiting repair.

Amsterdam Ave. Assault
Three teens were walking northbound on Amsterdam Avenue Dec. 1, when a group of 10 males engaged them in conversation. According to the victim, one of the group slashed him with an unknown object, causing a large laceration on his neck. The two friends were attacked by the other teens. One of the friends was cut on the ear and the other had his jacket ripped. The group fled on foot. The victims were treated at a nearby hospital.

In Through An Open Window
A female in her early thirties woke up to find that a burglar had come through her bedroom window on the night of Nov. 30. She asked him to leave but he refused. When he finally left, she called the police. After responding, officers searched the building and the burglar was apprehended.

Going Nowhere But the Big House
A female in her early fifties had her phone stolen and had threatening remarks made by a robber who refused to let her leave an UWS apartment Nov. 30. After the woman had her phone stolen, the man said, “You are done,” and made other remarks that scared her. He then refused to let her leave. When she finally managed to escape from his apartment, the crook chased her down the hall of the apartment building, yelling, “You are going nowhere!” The police later arrested him.

Brooks Brothers Bandit
A criminal rolled out of Housing Works with more than $2,000 worth of stolen merchandise Nov. 28. The criminal was observed on video in possession of the stolen items. He was later nabbed with three Brooks Brother Suits and a Brook Brothers Shirt. He was charged with grand larceny.

Return is No Vacation
A woman who went away for the weekend discovered $3,600 worth of jewelry had been stolen from her apartment. The woman said that she left her daughter in charge of her house and that her daughter had some friends over for the weekend. Stolen item included a gold ring, chain bracelets and a BlackBerry. No one has been apprehended for the crime.

A Red Bull employee parked his vehicle on the corner of Amsterdam Avenue and 60th Street on Tuesday, June 7. He told police he locked the doors with two padlocks and then made a walking delivery nearby. When he returned, he found the padlocks clipped, the doors closed and 98 cases of Red Bull missing. Police canvassed the area but didn’t find any of the missing caffeinated beverage.

Four males assaulted a female Wednesday, June 8, at the Gin Mill, 442 Amsterdam Ave. One of the men hit the female over the head with a bar stool, while two others punched and kicked her arms and legs. Once they were outside the bar, one of the men, waving a knife in his right hand, threatened the victim, saying, “I’m going to kill you.” The female called the police, who arrived and arrested the four males.

An unidentified person stole three Apple MacBook laptops from Louis D. Brandeis High School Wednesday, June 8. The computers were left on a rack in the back of an empty, unsecured classroom. The means by which they were stolen are unknown. Police searched the area, but did not find the perpetrator.

A man attempted to steal a 2005 Nissan Maxima from the MTP Parking Garage on 59th Street last Saturday. According to police, the perpetrator caused damage to the front passenger side door by hitting a pillar before exiting the car and fleeing on foot. The suspect then entered a residential building on West End Avenue, where he exposed himself to front desk security, saying, “Jump on this.” After leaving the building he ran toward West 60th Street and entered another residential building. Security then called the police, who arrived and arrested the man.