How many times do we have to tell you? Never take your light saber to a bar. Bad, bad idea. Today's lesson in leaving your light saber at home is courtesy of Flynn Michael, an engineer from Bed-Stuy who is now offering a $100 reward for the return of his saber. According to the Brooklyn Paper, back in September Michael put his custom made $400 light saber "beneath the bar" at Project Parlor, and when he went to grab it a little after 2 a.m., it was missing. more ›

A 67-year-old employee of the Archdiocese of New York has been accused of stealing more than $1 million from the church. According to the Manhattan DA's office Anita Collins allegedly wrote herself more than 450 checks from the church, all under $2,500, over more than eight years. The worst part about the story? Collins has previously been busted for financial shenanigans. Twice. The church just wasn't doing criminal background checks when she was hired in 2003. more ›

The pastor of a church that has housed Occupy Wall Street protesters is giving them two weeks to leave after a portion of a baptismal font went missing. "It was like pissing on the 99 percent," the Post quotes Rev. Bob Brashear of West Park Presbyterian Church as sermonizing. Around 60 protesters sleep between the pews every night, and Brashear discovered that the basin and its lid were missing before Sunday services, and demanded that they be returned later that day. Recalling the era of the crack epidemic, Brashear said that the drug addicts the church took in didn't steal the basin. "Not even the crackheads messed with that." more ›

Carolyn Taylor, the 36-year-old mom who was busted on a shoplifting spree with her 11-year-old son last March, will not be going to jail. Yesterday the Fagin-mama was sentenced to five years of probation after she pleaded guilty to charges of grand larceny and endangering the welfare of her child. more ›

A South Bronx principal has been accused of using school funds to help pay for her daughter's "Sweet 16" party. Liza Cruz Diaz, principal of Public School 31 on East 156th Street, is also accused of stealing nearly $5,000 more and messing with school records to hide her thefts. Jeez, why couldn't she have done things like a normal parent and just asked Nicki Minaj to perform as a favor? more ›

The political consultant who was convicted of stealing $1.1 million from Mayor Bloomberg's mayoral campaign was sentenced to one to four years in prison today. While probation was an option for John Haggerty, Supreme Court Justice Ronald Zweibel said he opted to send Haggerty to prison "in order to restore the public confidence in the electoral process and to serve as a deterent.” more ›

The NYPD announced that a man on a 4 train had been arrested "after he allegedly lifted an iPhone from a plainclothes decoy police officer’s backpack Sunday," according to WCBS 2. more ›

Authorities shut down two subway lines under Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn last night after an iPhone thief dashed into the tunnel. The Post reports that a 19-year-old suspect allegedly stole the phone from a woman waiting for the R train at around 6:40 p.m., and ran down the tunnel. The woman, who was probably seconds away from crushing her opponents in Words With Friends, chased the man down the tracks. more ›

A Chinatown bank teller accused of stealing $243,000 from his Chase branch and going on an Atlantic City casino binge was arraigned in court yesterday. Sephoen Tsang, 22, pleaded not guilty to five counts of grand larceny and falsifying business records. Tsang, who was arrested playing the baccarat tables in Atlantic City, allegedly left a note for his former supervisor apologizing for the theft: “Sorry, Betty. Take care.” more ›

The holiday shopping season isn't all billion dollar weekends—it is also prime shoplifting season. So what do sticky-fingered filchers covet? According to the National Association for Shoplifting Prevention ("because shoplifting steals from all of us") the most coveted item year round is...choice cuts of "luxury meat." But the Center for Retail Research told us it was cheese! more ›

During the nighttime raid of Zuccotti Park, the NYPD, with the help of the Department of Sanitation, confiscated the items that the Occupy Wall Street protesters had used to make the area home. Demonstrators were told that they could pick up their property, which was just moved so the NYPD could do some mopping, at a Sanitation building on West 57th street. However, there was no mention of what condition the items would be in, and Motherboard reports that computers taken in the raid were broken and dented, appearing to have been "smashed with bats." more ›

Everyone loves iPads—especially thieves! As if stealing them from joggers or oblivious subway passengers wasn't enough, a crew in Brooklyn decided to go straight to the source: The Best Buy at Gateway Plaza. more ›

Police say they are looking for this iPhone thief who took a photograph of himself. The theft occurred on Monday night, when a 31-year-old woman was walking in Ozone Park around 8 p.m.: According to the Daily News, "A man bumped into her, snatched her black iPhone from her pocket and ran away, cops said. But when he later tried unsuccessfully to unlock the phone, it automatically took a picture of him and emailed it to her, thanks to an application called iGotYa." more ›

You don't see the mayor of New York take the stand in a trial every day, but today is one of those days. As part of the ongoing criminal case against political consultant John Haggerty the prosecution today called hizzoner to the stand and he so has, with a chorus of twitterers present. This isn't the first time a sitting mayor has taken the stand, but it may be the first time one has done so as the victim of a crime. And if lawyers were hoping for a testy Bloomberg, they seem to be getting their wish. more ›

Overnight internet sensation Ryan Gosling has finally spoken out about that somewhat awkward scuffle he jumped into earlier this summer, right on the mean streets of Astor Place. The then unknown Gosling decided to break up a fight going down in the middle of an intersection, where a man had been stopped after stealing a painting. Gosling eventually paid the artist for the work, and the thief was sent on his way with the stolen item, learning absolutely nothing about the consequences of his actions. Because everything is, this was all caught on tape and later put into the YouTubes, making the young man famous (he's even since been cast in a movie called Drive which we hear is really good). Watch him blush below—this kid's got a future!: more ›

Still have some questions about Ryan Gosling breaking up that NYC street fight earlier this week? There are so many answers on the internet! First off, US Magazine talked to a witness that had the real story, saying, "There is a man who sells paintings [that] he makes on that corner. This older man ran by him and tried to grab and run away with one of his paintings. The painter was able to stop him before he took off with him and tackled him to the ground." Yawn, not enough Ryan Gosling in that eyewitness account, but it gets more interesting when Our Hero steps in... more ›

Smurf week may be over, but those little blue creatures aren't quite ready to leave the spotlight yet. And we aren't talking about the recently announced sequel. Three disgruntled employees of a Staten Island event-production company, Everything Entertainment, have been charged with looting loads of Smurf-themed schwag in the week before the movie's premiere. more ›

Just one more travel-induced headache: luggage-related larcenies are up almost 30 percent at JFK airport, so maybe think twice before checking that bag. And don't expect to get it back once it's gone—only 28 of the 299 complaints filed this year have lead to arrests. more ›

Earlier this week, a man stole a Picasso sketch from a San Francisco art gallery. The thief was captured on surveillance video from a neighboring bar, which showed a man, wearing sock-free loafers, a dark jacket and large sunglasses, casually strolling down the street with the sketch tucked under his arm and then heading into a cab. Now, a suspect has been caught, and it turns out he's from the Garden State. more ›

Apple products are, undoubtably, hot these days. And hot Apple products are worth a lot in the secondary market. Just ask all those subway iPhone grabbers. And with the next Apple product still under wraps, it seems that thieves are making do stealing Apple wares off of international flights and off of UPS trucks! more ›

Back in May, WCBS 2 looked at the phenomenon on stroller thefts. Well, maybe it's less a phenomenon and more a logical result of unsecured high-end baby strollers being parked on streets (one Bay Ridge family had two strollers stolen from them), tempting bait to anyone looking for a chic and inexpensive ride for a child. Now, there is definitive word from the NYPD that strollers thefts do not rate its own crime division. more ›

A Long Island man was arrested after stealing tips jars from two restaurants and a 7-Eleven in Brookhaven Town, and the Suffolk County police say that Laurence Reilly was using the money to support a drug habit. more ›

Back in 2009 New York Magazine profiled a young man who was more than happy to filch fine fashion to feed his clothing fixation. But apparently 20-year-old Kevahn Thorpe's obsession got the best of him since then. He was recently arrested in a tattoo shop buying a YSL tat for his neck with a stolen credit card. He had previously gotten, also with a stolen card, Fendi's double-F logo below his right ear. more ›

In any big city, it's really your own damn fault if you leave your valuables unattended and then they get stolen, but apparently it's been happening quite a lot in the city's Starbucks'. Thieves find easy targets at Starbucks, where customers frequently leave laptops, iPhones and other valuables at their tables while they pick up drinks or go to the bathroom. And Lt. Dan Hollywood said it's because the Bad Old Days are over! “I think it’s great people are so comfortable with New York City,” he told the Times. “But we’ve turned it around enough; maybe they’re not quite as raised up as they used to be.” Well, at least that won't last long. more ›

Just a week after the NYPD announced that iPhones—especially the iPhone 4—are targets for subway thefts, the cops announce that they arrested a man for stealing an iPhone 4 on a 4 train. And the iPhone 4's owner turned out to be an undercover cop. Kasseim Thomas, 47, was busted in the Bronx, but cops started noticing him when he was getting on and off a train at 59th Street and Lexington—Lt. Kevin Callaghan said, "That raised our suspicion level. That's how pickpockets work on the trains." more ›