Local muggings! Look out!
Tonight around 6 PM my wife was attacked after leaving the Q train on Park between vandy and Flatbush. Two kids, late teens, possibly early twenties - one grabbed at her iPhone and scratched her hand while the other backed him up from behind. She screamed at them and fended the kid off, and then his friend sidled up to her and the two of them attempted to trap her but she cursed them out and got across the street. From there, the two of them just lingered, chuckling, and eventually walked around the corner to Flatbush together.
The street was typically busy and no one helped out, although there was little anyone could have done. She was carrying her phone, but not displaying it or doing anything flashy. She WAS carrying a purse and a laptop, but they instead went for the phone only.
She gathered her wits and waited for the police at the dry cleaners, and eventually went to the precinct to make a full report. While there, she met another man who was robbed in his building vestibule on Butler shortly before, presumably by the same thugs.
This was dusk, but at a busy time of day, on a pretty busy street. These kids were clearly working as a team and looking for easy marks, but they were also easily scared off. Keep your wits about you and your eyes open.
Comments
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Sorry for your wife, sucks that this happened.
Park Place between Flatbush and Vanderbilt, with its high volume of people just off the B/Q hopping on their iPhones and iPods has proven to be easy pickins for teen-age thieves.
The next block of Park Place between Vanderbilt and Underhill, too. Long block, gets pretty dark.
See this thread from a few years ago tracking one particular thief over time until he was arrested:
Warning - thief on bike evenings nr Park Pl + Vanderbilt
http://brooklynian.com/forum/prospect-heights/warning-thief-on-bike-evenings-nr-park-pl-vanderbiltAs with that thread, many who witnessed the thefts (in that case made by one thief) were able to post specific details of the thief, details that eventually aided NYPD in making the arrest.
Please feel free to post any specific details about each of the thieves here. Others here may see them in action (or be robbed themselves) and be able to add to the descriptions and post alerts as to when they're out there as was the case in the prior thread above.
Moral of the story: these guys will be back.
(or one of their friends that hears them brag about it)It may help to share info here.
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This might be related. Yesterday at around 8pm, the young woman who was closing up Prospect Perk Cafe reported that a young woman grabbed the sandwich board and slammed it into the window, then ran around the corner to KeyFood, pushed items over then ran away. The police were called.
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Jeffery-
People who own dogs are often great assets in such situations. They are able to spend a good amount of time in an area, simply observing the surroundings.No courage needed.
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Another moral: don't have your phone in your hand when exiting the train. Keep it in your closed bag.......
Stinks that this happened. I've seen several packs of overly-boistrous teenagers roaming around lately who seem, in their demeanor, to be saying "fuck yeah, we own these streets."
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Damn sorry that happened to your wife. Isn't there a way to track iPhones? I will make sure that I tell my husband who is out on his bike a lot at night. Also i know this happened early in the evening, you can let your wife know that my husband runs the Brooklyn bike patrol which escorts people home from train stations after 8 pm.
I guess she can be thankful that they just snatched the phone and she wasn't hurt badly. -
Attempted mugging in the lobby of 14 Butler Place Friday night around 7pm. My neighbor saw the muggee fight off the muggers. People from the building came out as muggers ran down the block
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It Really doesn't make much of a difference, but I should be clear - the perps didn't get her iPhone. The first guy tried but then backed off while the second guy moved in, then she bolted across the street where another woman joined her and they walked to the dry cleaner on the corner of Vanderbilt.
What was weird, and perhaps its because they didn't actually get anything, was the way the two guys just lingered and didn't take off right away. They pretended they didn't know each other but eventually walked to the corner of Flatbush and turned toward the park together. Apparently they were just not afraid of cops or anything.
I don't think, unless there is some sort of a coordinated crime spree, that it was related to the thing at Prospect Perk. This was two boys in their late teens/early twenties. I think it was the same criminals that hit Butler. I thought it was #20, but they could certainly have hit #17 as well. Did you report it to the police? They are building a case and any more info would be helpful.
It sucks to have to be so careful on the streets of your own town, and it sucks to be so close to the Bergen St police station and have to rely on police who have their hands full and are based at the far end of Crown Heights. As I said, she wasn't even being obvious about using her phone, but she WAS carrying a laptop in plain sight - for some reason they still only went for the phone.
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FYI, a friend who works at a coffee shop in the neighborhood posted this on Facebook yesterday:
"HEY PROSPECT HEIGHTS! 2 residents said they were held up at gunpoint last night at Underhill & Park and on Sterling between Underhill & Vanderbilt. Tell your neighbors! Be careful out there!"
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the teenagers stealing i-phones are well recorded here as well.
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Putting together what's described in this thread with others I have heard about, there have been five separate incidents this week of robbery or armed robbery:
1) Attempted robbery by two young men on Sunday (11/20) around 6 pm on Park between Carlton and Vanderbilt (reported to precinct)
2) Robbery by two men on Sunday night (11/20) in the vestibule of an apartment on Butler (reported to precinct)
3) Attempted robbery on Friday night (11/18) in the lobby of 14 Butler Place
4) Armed robbery by two men on Sunday (11/20) night at Underhill and Park
5) Armed robbery by one man on Sunday night (11/20) at Sterling east of Vanderbilt -
6. Last night a teenager atttempted to rob a friend at Underhill and St. Marks.
Friend decided to run. Teenager decided not to use weapon, which may have been fake. Police notified.
Keep those phones hidden, stay sober, get home early, and hope you are not picked to be mugged anyway.
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Scary. I'm not sure I can tell from this info what time all of these happened, but quite a few sound like they were not late at night. (Even at 6pm it's dark these days...) I haven't yet resorted to calling stacey's husband to escort me around because I do tend to come home relatively early and sober, but maybe I should rethink that. (Calling Jay, not the sobriety part. :P )
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Four Gunpoint Muggings in Less Than a Week
Three of the attacks took place near Classon and Eastern Parkway, while the fourth happened on Sterling Place near Vanderbilt.
http://prospectheights.patch.com/articles/4-gunpoint-muggings-in-less-than-a-week
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Community groups in Prospect Heights met with representatives from the 77th Precinct this week about the muggings. The 77th is increasing surveillance of the neighborhood, including foot patrols.
Unfortunately, several of the incidents reported on this board, were not reported to the precinct, which makes it harder for the police to pursue.
Precinct officers asked us to do our part by keeping alert and not using ipods and phones while walking around the neighborhood.
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I feel like this is a theme on this board.
Put away the iPhones and Pods when you're walking in the neighborhood. (I also have my keys ready to go when I get to the door, so I don't have to get distracted by fishing them out.)
Also, what can we do about the lighting in GAP? The sidewalk lights in the stretch between Flatbush and Vanderbilt have been out for months--ever since the reconstruction started. I usually think the importance of street lighting is overstated, but it's very dark on that sidewalk, and it's especially noticeable now that it's dark by 5pm.
That said, I've taken to avoiding Sterling between Flatbush and Vanderbilt and walking on the building side of Plaza Street. I know it's not a sure bet, safety-wise, but if someone starts following me, I can at least duck into one of the doorman buildings. The entire south side of this block Sterling is rear elevations of the Plaza buildings, and it doesn't feel as safe at night.
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While the possibility that people are not reporting crime is "bad", I can think of something else that could be occurring: The police could not be recording crime that occurs because it makes the stats rise.
Gotta love the effects of measuring crime as a method of measuring performance.
Those school teachers who get penalized when their kids do bad on tests might understand; some resorted to posting the answers on the blackboard.
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Its crazy to think I walk their three times a night most nights of the week - i've had no probs. I wonder if it could be anything to do with the Pheonix folks?
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Do you mean the Phoenix House that is some kind of transitional housing or shelter on Prospect between Carlton and Vanderbilt? What does that have to do with it?
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Emily, cremate is suggesting that someone who lives at the Phoenix house might be behind the muggings. Dunno, but it's not out of the question (even though, yes, it's not politically correct to say this.) If I'm not mistaken, Phoenix House is for recovering drug addicts. Drug use tends to bring with it the need to commit petty thefts to support one's habit. Shelters and transitional housing anyway have a lot of crimes and can be dangerous--which is why many people in need of such services won't use them.
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Unless its a new Phoenix resident doing this, my guess would be that's its not. That place has been there for years and while there have been isolated incidents, they usually are fairly well behaved. I also have to believe that if they are recovering addicts they understand the need for discretion in a neighborhood where they now are very visible due to the demographic changes. My guess is that it is what it seems like, a bunch of teenagers who have decided that these are easy marks. They'll keep at it until they approach the wrong guy or gal, then the word will get out that this is a dumb thing to do.
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The PH/CH area has several social service agencies.
We are all likely aware of the big facilities (the addiction treatment center on Franklin, the DHS shelter at Atlantic and Bedford, etc.), but there are also a lot of other facilities in the 'hood.
Off the top of my head I can think of several local housing and treatment programs that provide services to folks who are addicted to drugs, mentally ill, and/or developmentally disabled. I suspect most people walk by these smaller facilities everyday without even knowing that they are there.
Given
A. The shear number of the facilities around,B. Our proximity to neighborhoods that are much more affected by crime than "us", and
C. A 24/7/365 subway system that quickly transports people (including criminals) around the city:
I'll leave it to the police speculate on who [teenagers, people in treatment for drugs, etc] is behind the recent spat of gun point robberies.
As an aside, if you ever wondered who receives treatment from Phoenix House, here's their most recent OASAS report. Lots of good demographic info.
...there is lots of info on what the various non-profits do. The trick is often knowing where to look.
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This story leads me to wonder why everyone with an iphone doesn't install this free Find My iPhone app. Is there some downside to it?
http://gothamist.com/2011/12/07/iphone_stolen_on_brooklyn_bus_found.php
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There is no downside.
But you cannot use the app unless you are running the most current operating system (os x 10.7.2 on a Mac, or ios 5.0 on an iPad) on both the lost iPhone and the computer you will use to find the lost iPhone.
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Thanks BKChickie, I was kind of confused because I'd also had the impression that Phoenix wasn't a problem, to the extent that I was half wondering if the presence of adults on the block at various times of day would actually be a deterrent to crime. I feel like I've never heard of any muggings on that particular block at all.
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another robbery on Classon tonight....
Armed Robbery
St Marks Ave & Classon Av
Brooklyn, NY
12/7/2011 8:43 p.m. -
I didn't mean to alarm anyone. Most of the Pheonix folks ive met have been nice.
I was trying to think of where people could be coming from in the area to mug people. Maybe down carlton from atlantic? I see some shady folk walk up and down there from time to time.
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I nominate Whynot to install the Find My iPhone app and set out for a long walk while openly displaying his phone in a mindless fruit ninja marathon. He should leave his ferocious attack dog at home though. :-)
We'll all chip in if he doesn't recover the phone. Maybe Brooklynian will sponsor it...I'm sure the recovery story will be good for page views.
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Arches-
While Dude and I thank you for thinking of us as part of your plan to bait and catch local criminals, we regret to inform you that we are presently busy thinking of all of the various places criminals could be coming from.We have thus far concluded that we have the best chance of figuring it out if we include everywhere.
Howdy, Stranger!
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