Police Blotter: Crafty Crook Drills Hole in Wall and Steals Safe

The following information was supplied by the 78th Precinct of the NYPD. It does not indicate a conviction.

The Mole

A crafty crook drilled a hole through a wall in order to unlock a St. Johns Place office door and then stole a safe, getting away with checks and $100 in cash some time between Aug. 31 and Sept. 3. 

The employees of the property management company for city-sponsored co-ops, Park Slope North HDFC, were all gone from Aug. 31 to Sept. 3. When they returned to their office, between Fifth and Sixth avenues, at around 7:30 a.m., they found that someone had entered the office building and drilled a hole through the hallway wall so they could reach through and opened the door. Once inside the office, the crook stole the safe and then left through the backdoor. The thief got away with the safe, which contained less than $100 in cash and checks.

Fake Check

A crook tried to cash a fraudulent check for over $2,000 from a man’s bank account at a Third Avenue bank on Aug. 27.

The 20-year-old victim told police that someone went to Citi Bank, between Eighth and Ninth streets, at around 9 a.m. and attempted to cash a fake check under his account number for $2,150. The victim told cops that he did lose his Citi Bank credit card a while ago.

Taxman Breaking Bad

A Third Avenue accounting business stole one of its clients’ tax refund checks for over $6,000 back in March.

The 31-year-old victim, who did not report the crime until last week, told police that he paid Boss Tax Professionals, between Baltic and Butler streets, to do his taxes this past tax season. When the IRS sent Boss Tax the man’s refund, the man asked them to deposit it into his bank account. Instead, the business forged his signature, deposited it into their account and then withdrew the entire check on March 6. The refund check was for $6,477, the victim told police that he did not see any of it.