76th Precinct
Carroll Gardens–
Cobble Hill–Red Hook
Drug benefit
Memo to crooks: When you head to work for the night, leave your prescription bottle behind.
A thief learned that valuable lesson after a pill bottle with his name on it led to his arrest on Feb. 4.
The action actually started on Jan. 26, when a woman left her bag unattended at the bar at Ceol on Smith Street between Warren and Baltic streets at around 11:50 pm.
The perp swiped the bag, which had $40 and various cards, and fled — but ran straight into one of the bartenders, who was standing outside.
The two tussled, and the perp dropped his medication before fleeing.
But a week later, Det. Danny Bonilla caught the defendant, 45, on Hoyt Street.
It’s a stretch
A cop nabbed a would be burglar who claimed he broke into a Court Street yoga spa on Feb. 7 because he needed money to support his baby.
Police say that the 21-year-old crook entered the spa, which is near Sackett Street, between 5 and 7:50 pm, when Officer Joseph King arrived and chased the man from the club, which had been the scene of prior break-ins.
He caught up with him five blocks away at Smith and Warren streets. Despite the perp’s plea about the hungry baby at home, King put on the cuffs.
Apple talk
A mini Cupertino was broken into on Carroll Street on Feb. 3 as a thief got away with three Apple laptops from the same apartment.
The resident of the unit, which is between Clinton and Henry streets, told cops that he was not home between 4:15 and 5:30 pm and that there was no sign of forced entry when he arrived home to find the missing computers.
Bad breaks
A Toyota owner got a different kind of scare when a thief stole a laptop and fancy cellphone out of her car on Feb. 2.
The woman told cops that she left the car in front of business on Centre Street at Smith Street for just 10 minutes at about noon and returned to find that her Dell computer, digital camera and Blackberry Storm were gone.
Virginia slimed
A native of the Commonwealth of Virginia had her bag stolen after leaving it unattended for six hours at Angry Wade’s bar on Smith Street on Feb. 5.
The woman told cops that she started the evening in the popular Smith Street bar at around 9:20 pm, putting her purse on a hook under the bar.
But by 3:30 am, she was hanging with friends at the opposite end of the bar. When she returned to her starting point, she discovered that her purse was gone. She lost her credit cards, Virginia driver’s license, wallet, purse and fancy myTouch cellphone.
Oykea
Another Ikea shopper had her bag stolen during a brazen swipe in the cafeteria famous for its Swedish meatballs.
The victim told cops that she was shopping in the Beard Street store at around 2:30 pm on Feb. 7 when she took a snack break. She said that she left her purse unattended for only a few minutes, but when she returned, the wallet was gone.
The good news is that she lost no cash.
— Gersh Kuntzman