Arrest made when bi-lingual cop hears Chinese call for help
An off-duty detective foiled a robbery in progress in a Canal St. jewelry store, according to an N.Y.P.D. spokesperson. The detective, Patrick Lee, heard someone scream ìrobberyî in Cantonese at 4:18 p.m. on Sept. 10. Recognizing it as a call for help, he rushed into Canal Diamond International at 168 Canal St. and found a man standing in the store with jewelry in one hand and a gun in the other.
He identified himself, and cornered the suspect. Lee arrested Eduardo Almetto, 25, and charged him with robbery and criminal possession of a weapon. The gun was recovered along with 18 stolen gold chains.
The area was cordoned off with police tape by 4:50 p.m. and uniformed officers were on the scene to take statements.
$12,000 stolen from attentive dad
A FiDi man looking for a relaxing evening with his daughter at a nearby playground had over $12,000 in property stolen when he turned away to take care of his daughter, police reported.
Police did not identify the playground, but based on the fatherís address, it was most likely Imagination Playground at South St. and Burling Slip. The father, 39, told police he left his bike unlocked at the corner while attending to his daughter on Tues., Sept. 10 at about 8 p.m. Suddenly, a man wearing a blue and white striped polo and khaki shorts hopped on it and sped away up South St., stealing both the bicycle and the bag attached to it.
The man did not immediately report the crime because he did not want to call 911 while he was with his daughter. Instead, he went to the First Precinct the next morning to report the crime, which made clear the staggering loss: not only was his $3,000 black Trek Superfly bicycle wheeling solo, the bag contained a $6,500 Rolex watch, a $2,000 2012 Apple MacBook Pro, a $150 iPod Touch, a $100 Seagate external hard drive, his black and silver Camelback bike bag valued at $150, a folder containing business documents, a pair of $200 red and silver ACIS sneakers and the unused $200 bike lock.
Hudson Square car break-ins
Two separate incidents of car window smash-and-grabs cropped up last week in Hudson Square, only about a block apart.
A manís BMW was broken into on Tues., Sept. 10, while it was parked opposite 66 Charlton St., near Varick St., police said. The owner, a man from Queens, said he had parked his vehicle there at 8:30 p.m. while he attended a concert. When he returned the next morning at 8:45 a.m. on Sept. 11, he discovered that his passenger side window had been destroyed. He said his electronics had been stolen, including a $600 iPad Mini, his HTC One cell phone valued at $600, a $200 Sony Cyber-shot camera and its $50 camera case.
There was no tracking software on the iPad, police said, and the software had been disabled on the camera. No surveillance footage was available of the area.
The second automobile break-in happened sometime between 8:45 p.m. and 9:40 p.m. on Sat., Sept. 14 at 36 King St., near Varick St. The owners of the car, two Queens women, had parked the car at the curb and left it while they went shopping in the area. When they returned, the driver, 23, noticed that the front passenger side window had been smashed in. The other woman, 21, noticed that her purse, which had been under the passenger side seat, was gone.
She told police she cancelled her credit card but was told by her bank that it had already been used to purchase two monthly MetroCards at a subway machine for about $112 each. They were unable or unwilling to give her the subway stationís location, she said.
Police said there were no witnesses or cameras with footage of the area. An evidence collection team was requested, police reported, but could not make it to the scene that night because of the incident in which police officers discharged their firearms in Times Square. The victims did not want to remain at the scene and drove home.
Ice cream shop heist
He wasnít screaming for the ice cream, but for the cash in the register, when he robbed a gelato parlor at knife-point last week.
On Fri., Sept. 13, an employee of ìGelato ti Amoî at 12 John St. called police to report a robbery that had just taken place at the restaurant. She said that a balding man in a baseball cap, T-shirt and tan slacks had entered the store at about 6 p.m. He initially said he had no cash, but was going to get some. Then police say he approached the counter, pulled out a knife and said, ìOpen the register, Iím a robber.î He walked around to the till and took out about $300. The man fled back onto John St.
Police said that a canvass of the area did not turn up results.
Woman thwarts subway mugger
A woman held off a robber on the J train last week when he attempted to take her pocketbook by force, police said.
The woman was fortunate in that the robber was not violent or armed and gave up when she refused to let go of her wallet. The 46-year-old said she had entered the subway system on Tues., Sept. 11 at the Broad St. station around 11 a.m. She noticed a man lingering near the turnstiles, but said she paid him no mind. She boarded a northbound J train shortly after and the man got on the same train car. She said that they were the only two passengers in the car when the train left the station.
As the train got pulled away, the man walked toward where she was sitting, pretending to look at the subway map. Suddenly, he lunged at her and grabbed her pocketbook, she said. Instead of relinquishing it, the woman held on and started screaming for help. She said she continued to do so until the train pulled into the Fulton St. station and the robber fled empty-handed out of the car.
She reported the crime the next day because she was scared and nervous at the time and went ìstraight home,î belongings in tow.
Laptop lifted during bar brawl
A 25-year-old woman reported to police that her laptop was stolen during a fight in a Varick St. bar. Police did not say whether the woman was involved in the fight.
The Brooklyn woman told police that she dropped her purse during a fight at S.O.B., a bar and nightclub at 204 Varick, on Thur., Sept. 12, at about 12:15 a.m. After the fight was over, she searched for her bag, but when she found it, realized that her Macbook Pro was missing. Video was available, but there was no tracking device activated on the stolen laptop.