Police Blotter: Woman Arrested for $1,500 Cell Phone Store eBay Scam

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

eBay Scammer Busted  

Police arrested an employee of a Second Avenue cell phone store for conducting an eBay scam using the store’s supplies on Aug. 7. 

The owner of Mobile Star, between 10th and 11th streets, told police that he caught one of his employees, a 41-year-old woman, making duplicate orders when customers would buy something and then selling them herself. She would have one item sent to her home and the other sent to the customer, after the store bought the items. The woman would make customers pay her personal eBay account instead of Mobile Star’s. She made $1,525.08 during her scam.   

Razor Sharp Shoplifter 

Police arrested a 55-year-old man for stealing $170 worth of razors from a Ninth Street pharmacy after punching the security guard in the face on Aug. 7.

The security guard, who was plainclothes at the time, saw the crook steal razors from the CVS, between Fifth and Sixth avenues, at around 5:40 p.m. When the crook left the store ten minutes later, the security guard tried to stop him outside, but the shoplifter punched him in the face. The shoplifter ran westbound on Ninth Street and police arrested him shortly thereafter. 

Bike Bandit 

A bike-riding bandit snatched a man’s cell phone and rode away while the victim was walking along Seventh Avenue on Aug. 7.

The 49-year-old victim told police that he was waiting for the bus on the corner of Seventh Avenue and Park Place at around 1:10 a.m. when a man riding a bike on the sidewalk rode up to him and snatched his iPhone out of his hand. The crook, which the victim described as a black man about 5-foot-7 and weighing 150 lbs., rode away southbound on Seventh Avenue. 

Civilian’s Civic Gone

A carjacker boosted a vehicle parked on Second Street late at night on Aug. 5.

The 50-year-old victim told police that he parked his silver Honda Civic between Fourth and Fifth avenues at around 9:15 p.m. When he went to pick up his car at 11 p.m. that same night, his Civic was gone. The victim said he locked the doors and there was no broken glass in its parking spot. He did say he had one outstanding summons, but the authorities confirmed that it was not towed or impounded.

Speedy Rent-A-Crook

A crook snatched a woman’s bag filled with $300 in cash while she was working at a Union Street car rental place on Aug. 3.

The 42-year-old victim told police that she left her bag unattended while working at Speedy Rent A Car, between Sixth and Seventh avenues, from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. She didn’t notice her bag was missing until her bank called her about $12,000 in fraudulent charges. The thief got away with $300 in cash, a debit and credit card, her checkbook and identification.