Police Blotter: Crook Steals Over $8,000 in Cigarettes from Ninth Street Pharmacy

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

Smoking Criminal

A crook stole over $8,000 in cigarettes from a Ninth Street pharmacy on Dec. 5.

A 27-year-old employee at CVS, between Fifth and Sixth avenues, told police that the thief, wearing a gray jacket, red baseball hat and black jeans, jumped over the counter at around 6:13 a.m. and stole 70 cartons of Newport cigarettes. The suspect, described as a black man standing approximately 5-foot-10, weighing about 170 lbs. with short black hair, is shown on the store’s surveillance cameras leaping over the counter and stealing $8,179.89 worth of smokes, then fleeing the store. 

Cha-Ching! Burglar Steals Cash Register from Bar

A burglar stole a cash register, a DVR and $100 cash from a Pacific Street bar on Dec. 5.

The owner of Machavelle Sportsbar & Lounge, between Flatbush and Fourth avenues, told police that he left the bar and locked it up at around 12:30 a.m. on Dec. 5. When he arrived to his business at 4:20 p.m. that same day, he found that the alarm was disabled. When he took a look around, he found that someone had stolen the cash register, a DVR and $108 in cash. He also found the basement gate’s lock was not secured and that the crook stole the entire camera system. The crook got away with a total if $3,183 worth of cash and equipment. 

Three Arrested for Attempted Robbery

Police arrested three men who tried to rob a supermarket on 12th Street on Dec. 6.

The 22-year-old cashier at Pathmark, between Second and Third avenues, told police that one of the three crooks, a 55-year-old black man, entered the supermarket and told her that he wanted to buy something with his benefit card, but couldn’t find it. When he found it, he gave it to her and then put her in a chokehold and stated, “Open the till or I will shoot you.”

The cashier struggled with the man to get free when another employee intervened, but was pushed to the ground and cut his hand. The crook then fled the store, pushing the first cashier to the ground. A third employee gave chase into the parking lot and saw him jump into a car with two other crooks, a 42-year-old and 51-year-old, and drove away. Police pulled them over and the employees identified them as the robbers. 

Car Boosted from St. Johns Place

A thief boosted a car parked on St. Johns Place sometime between Nov. 28 and Dec. 6.

The 63-year-old victim told police that he parked his Toyota 4-Runner between Fifth and Sixth avenues at around 7 p.m. on Nov. 28. When he went to get his car on Dec. 6 at around 11:30 a.m., it was gone. 

Douglass Street Burglary

A crook stole a 20-inch television from a Douglass Street home on Dec. 7.

The 45-year-old victim told police that she left her home, between Fourth and Fifth avenues, at around 3:30 p.m. to pick up her children from school, leaving the cleaning lady upstairs. When she returned at around 4:15 p.m., she found that someone had pried her front door open and stole the 20-inch TV from her front room. The cleaning lady told her that she thought the noise downstairs was the owner. Two neighbors told police that they saw a “suspicious” Hispanic man near the front door while she was gone.

 iPhone Snatch on R Train

A crook stole a woman’s iPhone while she was riding the R train near Union Street station on Dec. 7.

The 46-year-old victim told police that she was on a Brooklyn-bound R train and put her iPhone in the outside pocket of her purse at around 5:55 a.m. She felt someone bump into her, but didn’t check her bag until she exited the subway at the Union Street station on Fourth Avenue. The crook got away with her iPhone.