Just after midnight on Thursday, a 26-year-old Bronx man on his way home from work was fatally shot by a robber who was after his iPhone. Hwangbum Yang, a culinary-school graduate who taught Sunday school, had just started working at The Modern (the Danny Meyer restaurant at MoMA) in February. “He dreamed of becoming a famous chef here in New York so that he could go back to Korea and be very successful,” his mother, Hyun Sub Yang, told the Post through a translator. more ›

An armed robber was fatally shot by police in East Harlem earlier today. According to FDNY, the suspect was shot around 11:10 a.m. at First Avenue and East 119th Street. He and an accomplice had reportedly attempted to rob a neighborhood pharmacy. Witnesses told the Post that there was a bloody shootout on the streets of Harlem: “Part of the back of his head was missing. He had a large head wound and there was tons of blood,” witness John Brecevich said of the victim. more ›

A timely reminder to tourists and travelers not to be distracted at JFK airport, or else you might end up being a robbery victim: Port Authority police arrested a serial airport robber who has been connected to at least six robberies at JFK over the last three months. Frederick McDonald, 46, was arrested after stealing a backpack containing a laptop and $4,000 cash from an unsuspecting tourist: “He just flew in,” said Al Della Fave, a Port Authority spokesman. “He’s excited to be in the big city. He was taking pictures. [McDonald], the ultimate opportunist, grabs the bag and walks away.” more ›

Would-be criminals don't seem to be learning their lesson: if you steal an iPhone, cops will use the Find My iPhone app to track you down. And if you're really dumb, you may get caught in an embarrassing manner. Case in point: according to CBS, two cops found a stolen iPhone after they heard it ringing inside the pants of a 14-year-old suspect. more ›

Oh yeah, wait a minute Mr. Postman—are you even really a postman? The FBI says that a bank robber disguised as a UPS worker hit up a Queens bank yesterday. And this bank robber made sure not to mistakenly hand his gun to the cashier. more ›

Police are on the hunt for a clever burglar who has been targeting Harlem work sites in order to get access to commercial spaces. In at least 15 incidents since November 11 the NYPD says the bandit has broken holes into walls and rooftops of construction sites in Harlem in order to get access to commercials spaces. more ›

The NYPD are searching for an escaped prisoner who jumped out of the back of a police car. Janine Power, 28, of Brooklyn, had been arrested on Thursday afternoon after allegedly robbing a cab driver of $30 and his cell phone. She had been processed, and was being transported to Brooklyn central booking when she jumped out of the moving vehicle. more ›

The economic crisis is hitting us all hard, but we thought there were still some professions that were essentially recession-proof, such as sanitation workers, foreclosure agents, and robbers. But it seems that now even robbers are feeling the credit rating downgrade heat: a would-be robber has been accused of beating a 7-Eleven clerk in Long Island with a tree branch after his stick-up was unsuccessful. more ›

Police are on the hunt for a reportedly friendly robber who has chatted up at least two victims in lower Manhattan before choking and robbing them. Does anyone know the whereabouts of the Scranton Strangler? more ›

Private sanitation worker Michael Taylor finally caught a break yesterday when a judge dismissed charges against the Brooklyn man—moments before his trial for robbing a Radio Shack of $1,400 in 2009 was to start. The case was thrown out after the key witness spotted the "real" perp while he walked to court. more ›

—without any success. more ›

It seems that one thief has read (or watched) "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" one too many times: A psychologist says that an accused robber has been faking being deaf and mute for the last three years. And with 64 adjournments under his belt, Wendy Gabriel's plan seems to be working. "There is no dysfunction. He's not speaking because he doesn't want to," psychologist Barry Winkler told the News. more ›

Gotham City is home to a particularly colorful class of criminals, from The Riddler to Mad Hatter to Ten Eyed Man...and the real life Gotham ain't too different! We have robbers with "Hitler-like" mustaches, the "Scream" mask guy, and Darth Vader. And now there's a new criminal mastermind with a catchy nickname to add to that venerated list: the "Hefty Burglar." more ›

A would-be thief who tried to break into a Brooklyn apartment via a tree fell to his death yesterday. The 33-year-old man made his way onto the roof of the three-story Bushwick building, then leaped onto the adjacent tree, but the branch broke and he fell to the ground. more ›

There are a lot of dumb thieves out there—robbers who don't do their due diligence, or return to the scene of their crime the next day to ask for a job, or leave behind t-shirts with their face on it. But one serial Manhattan mugger has figured out a pretty smart way to rip off his victims: charm them with some light conversation first. more ›

We're not saying that "crack addled" Nathaniel Linden should have robbed the poor boxes of 11 Bronx churches, but you've gotta love his rationalization. He reportedly told cops, "I am angry at the church for molesting children. That's why I started going after churches. I don't case them out, I just walk by and get angry." He also said that the child molestation scandals are the latest thing to make him question the existence of God, following his mother's murder and his childhood in foster care. However, one friend said, "He never said anything about the Catholic Church. He was robbing from the poor. That's despicable." more ›

A 25-year-old teller at a TriBeCa Citibank finally figured out how to protect your savings from the hands of dastardly robbers. Make fun of them! On Monday evening, a potential robber walked up to her counter and said, "Excuse me Miss. This is a robbery. Give me all your large bills. Don't do anything stupid." Thinking it was a joke, she laughed in his face, and then quickly told her manager once she realized he wasn't kidding. But the embarrassment was just too much for the crook, who fled before he could get any cash. He should have dressed up as Darth Vader—nobody ever laughed at that guy. more ›

All the great criminals of our time (the Joker, the Wet Bandits) have left a "calling card" of sorts at the scene of the crime, so perhaps this Queens robber was just trying to join their illustrious ranks. In October, 19-year-old Fred Littles and two accomplices refused to pay for a $40 cab ride they took to Far Rockaway, and then beat up the driver and stole $150 from him before jumping out. However, Littles dropped his identification card close to the cab, and police were able to track him down last week. Two months to find him? Maybe it was a fake ID. more ›

A day after the police released images of an ice pick- and knife-wielding man who robbed four women in the Bronx and Manhattan, the suspect apparently struck two more times yesterday. Police believe that the same man is behind the muggings of two women in Stuyvesant Town. City Councilman Daniel Garodnick, who lives in the complex, told the Post, "This guy is really sick. Residents should be extremely vigilant when entering their buildings." more ›

Career subway pickpockets may be "retiring" from the game, and most of them are content on taking their secrets to their grave if they can't find a proper apprentice. But one turncoat ex-thief, Sherman "O.T." Powell, is being kind enough to dole out advice on how not to get robbed. The Daily News paraphrases, "Stop being so clueless. Pay more attention to your surroundings. This ain't Disney World." You sure about that? more ›

Police are searching for a man who robbed a Subway sandwich store in Westport, CT. with a hammer this week. The suspect threatened the store manager on Tuesday night, holding his mystical Mjolnir above his head in a threatening manner, and stole an undetermined amount of money. The suspect is described as a white male with light skin tone, approximately 6 feet tall, and 40-50 years old. He had long blonde hair and a blonde mustache. According to police, neither police canine nor patrol units could find any trace of the man after the robbery. Attempts to contact Loki for questioning have been unsuccessful thus far. more ›

The woman accused of robbing stores—sometimes at gunpoint— in Manhattan and Queens while wearing all black and a cat mask has allegedly confessed. The Post reports, "[Manhattan] Prosecutors said she confessed to those incidents," and she's allegedly "spilled the beans" on her Queens crimes. A neighbor in Astoria said, "Everyone is shocked. She's so sweet. I've known her since she was this tall. Her mother's a sweetheart. There's no way she brought her up that way." more ›

Yesterday, a woman entered a Soho shop on Greene Street "dressed in black, with a black scarf around her face and wearing a cat mask" and used a gun to rob the store. Yes, the cat mask-wearing lady bandit (video), who apparently robbed two other stores while wearing the mask and another store while veiled. more ›

Two suspected robbers fleeing police in a minivan fatally ran over a Franciscan nun with Parkinson’s disease in Harlem yesterday morning. It's being reported that the getaway van, a Chrysler Pacifica, was going more than 60 mph when it blew through a red light and collided with a Honda Odyssey, then bounced over a traffic island and into a group of pedestrians at Lenox Avenue and West 122nd Street. The crash sent them 15 feet into the northbound lane, witnesses tell the Times, killing Sister Mary Celine Graham, 84, and critically injuring her home health aide. Another pedestrian is in stable condition. more ›

Police are on the lookout for a Westchester County bank robber who was apparently raised with good manners. The man is suspected of robbing seven banks since January, according to the Post, but has always thanked the tellers and "wished them a nice day" as he was making off with the money. So nice to know that he may not be a cold-hearted killer inside; we're sure that softens the blow of having a gun pointed at your head. more ›

A 91-year-old cashier at the East Northport Rite Aid was back at work today after being attacked by a robber yesterday. Florence Critelli, who tried to fight him off, told the Post, "I want him to get caught because I want to smack him." more ›

The robber who killed a 71-year-old man in an Upper East Side jewelry heist stole so many valuables that investigators believe he threw away a Fabergé-style egg during his escape. According to law enforcement sources, the gunman who shot Henry Menahem in the R.S. Durant shop on Madison Avenue on Wednesday grabbed more than 700 items worth nearly $1 million, then dumped the decorative egg, valued at between $100 to $1,000, in a bag next to a trash can at the northwest corner of Lexington Avenue and 73rd Street. more ›

Police are asking Upper East Siders to be on the lookout for a knife-wielding mugger suspected in a string of robberies in the neighborhood over the past week. The first is believed to have occurred at 12:45 a.m. on September 4th, when the perp—described as a mustachioed black male, between the ages of 35 and 40, about 5-foot-10 and 190 pounds—relieved a 32-year-old man of his wallet and cellphone. more ›

A little tidbit about our favorite teacher ass-tapping, teen model turned bodega robber, Joshua Walter. Now even though the 20-year-old runway model has confessed to holding up a number stores since June, the Post says he "was soon blubbering like a baby that he was afraid of what might happen to him behind bars," according to police sources. Well, if inmates at Rikers knew enough about alleged Starbucks bomber and Fight Club fan Kyle Shaw to punch Shaw in the face, we can—thanks to Oz—imagine what will happen to Walter. The Post adds that Walter's romance with his 17-years-his-senior girlfriend, Gina Salamino, "fizzled" but the Daily News suggested they were still living together. The News also reports today that he pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct for beating her up in May! Anyway, Walter and his accomplices are awaiting arraignment. more ›

According to her driver's license, the 76-year-old woman who was recently busted for stealing a wallet from a Fairway shopping cart is named Charlotte Petrovas. She's been arrested 73 times over the years under dozens of different aliases, and the assistant DA says they've had trouble verifying her identity because she "virtually burned off the fingers on both hands, which makes fingerprinting virtually impossible." In an interview with the Post, she explained that "my father died when I was young, so I had to go to work. I was a model in the Fashion District. I did that for years, but then I had an accident and broke three bones in my back and went on disability." She says she's not a "career criminal" but stole "just to get the things I need." more ›