Results tagged “theft”

The criminals hold the tasers now! Watch out would-be targets, if last year the machete was the weapon of choice, one mugger in Brooklyn may be unintentionally spearheading a taser trend. The Brooklyn Paper notes that on October 2nd "a stun-gun-toting purse snatcher shocked a victim on Bayard Street [at Graham Avenue] before running off. The woman was walking home from a bar at around 3 a.m." The robber ran off with her purse, cash and cell phone after she collapsed to the ground. Serious buzz kill.

Earlier we noted that actress Kirsten Dunst was heading to the courthouse today to testify against a Manhattan mechanic accused of stealing the actress's handbags and whatnot, while she was stationed at the SoHo Grand hotel penthouse. 35-year-old James Jimenez now faces 15 years in prison if convicted; his accomplice, Jarrod Beinerman, was already sentenced to 4 years.

Doesn't everyone in Williamsburg know that drinking out of a plastic water bottle (or a dated Sigg bottle) will lead to certain death*? One water consumer ordered a case of Poland Spring to the mailroom recently (is this something that people do?), only to have it stolen. The bisphenol-A has clearly gone to their head, as they skipped right over passive-aggressive and penned an aggressive-aggressive note to the thief, wishing them to choke. A ransom note, declaring the water was "fine," was posted in reply. One tenant in the building says, "This goes a long way to explaining my love/hate relationship with my neighbors."

Well this isn't a pretty picture, but who doesn't love an art caper come full circle? Last month two drawings by Russian artist Nicholas Roerich were stolen from the Nicholas Roerich Museum (where else?). While one piece was returned in the mail (with a return address), the NY Post now reports that a Brooklyn couple was busted at a LES Starbucks trying to sell the other one to an undercover cop. "Denis Ryjenko, 35, and his girlfriend, Natella Croussouloudis, 42, were arrested Sept. 3 as they tried to unload a small masterpiece. One of them even told the 'buyer' the painting was hot and warned him not to hang it on his gallery wall." The couple had been showing it to people in their Midwood apartment, and were prepared to sell the piece (which is worth well over $100,000) for $40,000. Their landlord told the paper they owed $7,500 in back rent and recently had their power and gas shut off.

The Dyckman Farmhouse Museum has been burgled! The NY Post reports that 43 artifacts were stolen when the Parks Department was renovating it, which was reported back in 2007. "City records obtained yesterday reveal an alarming list of period pieces, lavish décor and jewelry stolen when the Parks Department and the nonprofit Historic House Trust hauled belongings out of the Inwood museum for an interior renovation." Some items date back to 1800, some made gold, some adorned with diamonds... and even a family cradle was swiped! The case has now been closed, and the "inconclusive investigation revealed several questionable decisions by the Parks Department, such as giving keys to Dyckman to 'a lot of Parks staffers and personnel over the years' and failing to always lock up." The original home was destroyed during the Revolutionary War, so, we suppose, this too shall pass.

Who could have predicted an art caper ending with a stolen piece being returned to the scene of the crime? One of two Russian masterpieces lifted from the walls of an Upper West Side museum has now been mailed back in one piece. The NY Post reports that the Nicholas Roerich Museum staff "were shocked Friday when the mailman delivered the $70,000 painting" (pictured) in a manila envelope where it was pressed between two pieces of cardboard. One employee told the paper, "I thought it was some junk mail. I opened the envelope. Everybody started jumping up and down." The sender even left a name and return address on the envelope (which was mailed from Brooklyn), though there's no word on if it's legit.

The Nicholas Roerich Museum on West 107th Street near Riverside Drive has been robbed of two of its artworks (whilst the fat cats at the Guggenheim have people trying to give them art!). The Russian masterpieces were swiped off the walls at separate times, without anyone witnessing the act. The NY Post reports that a police officer first noticed a missing work when he was visiting on June 24th, seeing a label on the wall with no painting above it. Turns out it was a $20,000 sketch by Russian artist Roerich, circa the 1930s. Four days later an employee noticed another work went missing in the same hallway, this time a 70,000 painting. The paper reports that the NYPD has "few clues in the thefts, and surveillance video of the hallway has yielded little information." With an average of 25 visitors a day, could this be an inside job?

Dun dun dun duuuuun: composer Philip Glass recently came home to find his apartment had been broken in to. While someone took the time to shatter a window to get in, the only thing that was taken was a cell phone. The Villager reports that his 2nd Avenue home is just around the corner from the 3rd Street Men's Shelter, where it's suspected the thief resides. The paper notes a broader issues with the shelter, saying that muggings, car break-ins and drugs are becoming more rampant problems in the area. One community board member, Elinor Tatum, was recently at the Marble Collegiate Cemetery and "was shocked to see all the 40-ounce beer and vodka bottles littering the graveyard, which she is sure were tossed out of the shelter’s windows." She told the paper: “I don’t want to see it going back to the way it was in the late ’80s.”

Yesterday, the MTA asked for the public's help is finding a trio of men who managed to steal $120,000 worth of jewelry from two salesmen traveling through Grand Central Terminal. According to the Post, "The ruse involved one con man following a salesman for hours on the day of the crime, tailing him for miles on his regular route from Chinatown to Midtown. Once at Grand Central, the thieves used two distractions to swap one of the jewel-laden bags with one of equal heft and appearance." Yes, just like in the movies! Here's how the MTA describes the diversion: "MTA Police believe that on the lower level of the Terminal at about 6 p.m. on June 24, the jewelry company employees were transporting about 800 pieces of gold and diamond jewelry including rings, neck chains, bracelets, earrings and pendants, and about $2,000 in cash, in a black duffel bag. The employee with possession of the bag set it down momentarily to discard some garbage..."

Not so shocking: Queens DA Richard Brown said that a TSA officer and contract baggage handler at JFK Airport were arrested for stealing a Macbook Air laptop and a T-Mobile Sidekick from checked luggage. As part of an "integrity test," a suitcase with the laptop, two cellphones and an iPod were planted on a flight from Miami—and were apparently too tempting to TSA officer Brian Burton and handler Antwon Simmons. When the luggage left the check baggage room, the Queens DA's office alleges the two items were gone "and that the luggage tags had been switched - indicating a different passenger’s name and a destination of Los Angeles - in an effort to conceal the theft of property." Brown said, "When air travelers check their luggage with an airline, there is an implicit trust that their bags and their contents will meet them at their destination." Yeah, but that's also why people hate checking their luggage and insist on bringing too many carry-on items. Five years ago, Chevy Chase learned the hard way not to check his $10K watch in his suitcase.

Last year, 51-year-old Cecille Villacorta, an ex-Saks employee, went on trial for charges that, through a unique con, she stole over $1 million from the Manhattan flagship store. She faced up to 7 years in prison for grand larceny, and now the court has finally handed down her sentence: 90 days behind bars, five years’ probation and a $96,000 fine. Though Villacorta reportedly left the courtroom happy, the conviction is being appealed—if it's upheld, she also faces deportation to her native Philippines.

The Brooklyn Museum has been robbed! No, we're not talking about Albany, or a good old fashioned caper, rather a former payroll manager stole more than $620,000 from the institution. The NY Post reports that Dwight Newton, 40, siphoned the money into bank accounts he held with his wife. He "faces fraud charges for drafting 38 bogus electronic checks between April 2005 and December 2005, authorities said." As of now there's no evidence that his wife, Donna Tricarico, was involved. Though one might find it odd that the 49-year-old who just retired from the Brooklyn DA's Office where she was a detective took no notice of the extra $620K coming into their bank accounts. As for Newton, he had left the museum last summer to work for a non-profit called Action Against Hunger, where he was arrested. The Daily News has a photo of him fleeing from court; the museum's spokeswoman said that "the losses were covered by insurance."

In some ways, Teresa Tambunting is just like us. The Daily News reports that the 50-year-old Scarsdale wife and mother had worried about the recession; a nephew said, "[Tambunting and her husband] were saying this was one of their worst years, but this year is [going to be] much better." But one way she's different is that she stole $12 million in gold coins from her employer, a Queens jewelry manufacturer—by way of hiding the coins in the lining of her purse—over six years. While Tambunting returned $800,000 worth of the coins to the company and investigators have found $7.3 million that she "allegedly kept stashed in 12 large plastic treasure chests in her home," about $4.7 million of the booty is missing. Tambunting's legal strategy may involve an "obsessive-compulsive disorder" defense.

Department of Education investigators say that a DOE purchasing agent used his department-issued debit card to buy $55,000 of items—for himself. The Post reports that Cecil Darrell (who is now fired) bought "two handheld metal detectors favored by oddball beach trollers - at a price tag of more than $1,300" as well as a "Bose audio equipment and iPod speakers as well as camcorders, digital cameras and a total of 27 notebook computers between 2004 and 2007." The Daily News says Darrell also took flights to Florida and California with his wife—who is still a DOE employee—and paid to fly relatives from Guyana to NYC. The case is now with the Manhattan DA's office; the DOE tells the News it will be "implementing new procedures to control the use of procurement cards."

The NY Post's police blotter brings us back to the days of Mugger Money. They report a suspect confronted two 20-something females on East 59th Street near Park Avenue at 4:10 a.m. on Saturday wielding a large knife. After taking their cash, "the thief then asked to see their cellphones, but, when the women produced them, he uttered, 'I don't want that,' and ran off." Aside from sounding like something that would happen to Liz Lemon, perhaps this can serve as a warning that it could be time to start carrying around your old rotary telephone as a decoy! Or install Google Latitude for tracking purposes. [via NY Mag]

A NJ lawyer is accused of stealing $4 million "from clients that ranged from handicapped children to the elderly, including one dead client whose bank accounts he supervised." The NY Times reports, "[Steven] Rondos stole more than $1 million from a 32-year-old patient with cerebral palsy and spastic quadriplegia, prosecutors said. In another case, he took a total of more than $400,000 from a person with bipolar depression, before and after the patient died in 2007." And Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau said, "The son of a b---- was a pretty vicious guy, preying on incapacitated people." Rondos, whose law firm is in Brooklyn, was appointed by courts to manage money for children afflicted with cerebral palsy from medical malpractice as well as elderly people with mental impairments, but he dipped into his clients' money to pay off the mortgage of his Ridgewood, NJ home and renovate it (he needed a new kitchen and home theater). Rondos' lawyer says his client has depression and is taking medication for it.

Police grabbed an 18-year-old suspect for committing three robberies inside an NYU dorm near Union Square Monday and Tuesday. Juan Molina, not an NYU student himself, allegedly got away with four laptops, two iPods, a digital camera, a necklace and a credit card by walking right into students' rooms without even having to force his way in. He just waited for opportune moments to duck in rooms at the Carlyle Court building near 16th Street, robbing one student while they were taking a shower. But after using the stolen credit card at a nearby drug store, cops identified him by the description of his red hair after having Molina on record for a burglary last year. NYU sophomore Brittany Barnard told the Post, "It's not that surprising. People leave their doors open here. I used to leave my door open all the time—but not anymore."

Looking for a new dumbbell, or perhaps a surefire way to break into someone's car? One man's bad luck may just be your ticket to toned arms and free cd players. From a Craigslist post this morning: "Some douchebag thief threw a 50 lbs weight into one of my car's windows (parked in Douchebag Central, aka Murray Hill), taking an old CD player walkman from my glove compartment. The CD player was useless but the window cost me $100 to replace. I'd like to recoup the loss. Thankfully, said douchebag thief left the 50 lbs weight in the back seat of my car as a souvenir (You needed to lug around a 50 lbs. weight to do the job of 3 lbs. crowbar? No wonder you broke into my car and not one with something valuable in it. You're an idiot). Now you can benefit from my loss by buying this weight at a discount."

The Staten Island Advance reports that thieves, posing as NYC Department of Environmental Protection employees, are targeting senior citizens. Apparently the robbers claim they must "check pipes, read or fix water meters, or collect cash for unpaid water bills," and they have struck five times in the last two months of 2008, taking jewelry, cash and credit cards. The DEP says its employees wear uniforms, show ID and never ask for cash, "We want to alert the community that this is going on and people have to be very careful." According to the Advance, cops think the robbers are part of a "roving band that travels up and down the East Coast, stopping only long enough to accumulate a haul and then leaving for another town before they get caught."

In broad daylight, a group of masked robbers stole over $27,000 from a travel agency in Chinatown. May Chow owner of Golden Express Agency, which runs a low cost bus line and is located at 15 Division Street, told the NY Times, "One of them jumped over the counter and said: ‘This is a holdup, I’m not kidding. Where is the safe?’ I told him there is no safe in the office.” She brought them money from her bag, but the robbers, who seemed to be aged 14 to 19, spotted envelopes with money from the weekend's earnings. The robbers tied up the employees, cutting Chow's face in the process, and told them not to attempt to get help any time soon. But the victims managed to break free and call the police. Chow doesn't believe the robbery was related to bus line competition, "I think it’s just random. They’re really young guys.”

That Saks is den of thieves! First a jewelry saleswomen is accused of bilking the store over $1 million, then a suit salesmen is arrested for stealing from office buildings, now a "public-relations finance manager" has been arrested on charges she stole more than $680,000 from the department store. 52-year-old Ava John's job required her to pay outside vendors hired by Saks for special events at the store. According to the Daily News, John allegedly spent the last five years creating fake invoices for her friends and relatives, who would get a taste of the loot in exchange for cashing the checks. She may have raked in more than $680,000 in the scam, which has also implicated her 32-year-old niece, who allegedly helped by incorporating a bogus bridal consultancy, the Post reports.

The Queens DA announced that two American Airlines baggage handlers at JFK Airport were charged with stealing $280,000 of jewelry from a suitcase checked in and bound for Los Angeles. Apparently Albert Acevedo and Angelo Riviello had a code to let each other know about certain bags; in this instance, Riviello said, "Wow, that’s heavy," and Acevedo, baggage crew head, came over and opened the bag. Acevedo took some of the suitcase's envelopes and later told a colleague, “I made a good find today. These rings add up to $1000.” Riviello later admitted to hiding his take of the jewelry in his microwave while Acevedo admitted he put his stash under his bathroom sink. The Post says the victim is "gem merchant David Diamond," who alerted the police when he bag went missing.

Two members of the NYPD's Organized Crime Control Bureau were relieved of their badges after videotape of a raid on a downtown club made its way to the Internal Affairs Bureau. According to the Post, in one segment, a veteran sergeant is seen bending down over an open cash register (some money was reportedly stolen). His supervisor was taped urinating in the establishment's kitchen sink. One of their OCCB co-workers, a detective, was suspended earlier this year when he was accused of acting as a pimp for teenage girl prostitutes.

Cecille Villacorta, an ex-Saks employee, is on trial today for charges that she stole over $1 million from the Manhattan flagship store, money that actually went into her customers pockets. Sort of like a modern day Robin Hood except she was stealing from the rich and giving to the rich. Her big commissions and bonuses came from striking a deal with about 230 customers and selling over $27 million in jewelry; upon purchasing the jewels she told the trusted consumers they could expect a "refund" credit without ever making a return. On top of the $1M she's accused of stealing, she also received $50K in commissions. The 51-year-old faces 25 years in prison for grand larceny.

The two women who are accused of stealing from open houses are looking for deals from the prosecutors.

The Post has it that a prep cook at Junior’s restaurant in Brooklyn is in hot water after a co-worker spotted him stuffing 15 lobster tails down his pants and into bandages around his legs. In recent weeks, Junior’s staff had noticed that the restaurant’s supply of lobster tails had inexplicably dipped. So when 40-year-old Raymundo Flores was observed in a walk-in freezer bulking up his trousers with crustaceans, coworkers called 911.

Remember that trusting cyclist who let a complete stranger “try out” his KHS bike – only to watch him pedal away, never to return? The story has a (sort of) happy ending, as the victim, Michael Green, relates in a long post on his blog, which uses that eyesore ‘white text on black background’ format. To spare you the eyestrain, here’s the gist: While Green was out of town this weekend, a couple of his pals in the cycling community spotted his distinctive bike in Alphabet City, being pedaled by “a short Hispanic male, in a cameo thermal shirt who looked very awkward and did not possess the skills to ride a brakeless fixie.”

While the man who suspected of stealing women's purses during the morning subway commute has been caught, it turns out there's another fiend with a similar penchant. The Post says a "well-dressed, well-coiffed daytime purse-snatcher has been targeting unsuspecting women as they lunch at Midtown tourist spots."

Marc Jacobs, who is no angel himself, had a questionable employee managing one of his three stores in the Village. The NY Post reports that 24-year-old Kyle Avila stole approximately $62K from the designer in just 18 months. Gawker notes that the Kansas boy also once posed nude for a Jacobs t-shirt (pictured), so maybe he just felt he was due.

the church and sell it to a developer. How could this happen? Well, the City Register doesn't check deeds for authenticity, enabling many scammers to attempt steal property.