Posted to Crime on

Crown Heights’ New Police Captain Means Business

The new commanding officer of the 71st Precinct Cap. John Lewis (L) with Community Affairs Officer Vinny Martinos at the Lag Baomer Rally.

This morning at around 9:00, Sholom Meir Hecht was walking near his home on Union St. between Kingston and Albany Ave., when he was accosted by three African-American teenagers who demanded – and received – his cell phone.

When police were notified of the incident, the new commanding officer of the 71st precinct, John Lewis, decided that he had enough of the muggings and took bold action.

Based on the detailed description of the teens – they were all in their mid teens, carrying backpacks and heading down Kingston Ave. – the police surmised that they were students in Wingate High School.

The police then went to the High School and received a list of all the students who had arrived late that morning. They quickly determined which three had committed the crime, and – sure enough – found the stolen cell phone in their possession.

The three were removed from their classroom in handcuffs and placed under arrest.

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42 Comments

  • looking good

    wow!! finnaly!! they should do more basic detective work like this!!

  • Good work...

    …but this type of response to a crime should be “routine”, not “bold”

  • yanki

    Thanks CH.info.

    This is great news.

    Hope to only hear such stories from now. Kedai hu Rashbi!

  • ch mom

    wow! thank you so much to captain lewis and the 71st pct. we appreciate your quick response. please keep up the good work, and get rid of all the scumbags who try to ‘live off of us’.

  • Thank you Officer Lewis

    Wow! Kudos to the Cops! Thanks for keeping us safe!!

  • a grateful resident

    thank you to the cops, yes, its an extra effort and we appreciate it

  • Right Person Mess With!!!

    “Sholom Meir Hecht”?? If I’m thinking of the right guy, he could’ve taken care them by himself… Wouldn’t need the cops and they would’ve been scared of him!!!

  • WOW

    now i am asking is it the BLOG or the CAPTAIN ?

    THANK YOU CAPTAIN LEWIS you are Great.

    one good deed earn you respect in Crown Heights.

    the blogs report the news not make the news.

    when you are doing a good job no one can say otherwise.

    Thank GOD for sending the simonetti away from here

  • shlomo as always with bad English

    not enough government can stop cellphones crime in second w/o any additional law, but don’t want

  • Thank You!!

    Thank You Captain Lewis We Love your Common Sense G-D Bless you in your continued Protection of the Entire Community.

  • SG

    Sholom Meir is the nicest man you’ll ever meet. when you have a life, you don’t risk it for a cellphone

  • S. M. Hecht

    Ouch that really hurt! You really don’t give me enough credit. Your story is all wrong. You know if I was walking, he’d be eating out of a tube right now. Here’s how it happened. I was sitting in my car across da street from my house, I was texting, when a black male reached into my car, and tried to take my cell phone from my hands. I grabbed him by his ear, and while trying to pull him into da car, smashed his head in my windshield; at that point he slipped away, and started running for his life. I got out of my car, and started chasing him down da block, and immediately called Rich Silverstien of Community Affairs, (only then did I see that there were three of them). When I saw there was no way I was going to catch them, I went back to close my windows, and turn off da car. After scouring the neighborhood for about half an hour, we then (thanks to the thinking of the very wise Captain Lewis), went to the high school, they were not in class, they were still trying to check in, one teen was arrested outside, and everybody saw it, and knows it, and now they know that the community, the 71st precinct, and CH Shmira mean business. I’d like to thank Captain Lewis, Sergeants Kelly, PO Silverstien, PO Martinos, and the entire 71st precinct Community Affairs, and if there’s anyone I’m forgetting, please forgive me.
    To clarify at no time whatsoever was my phone in the possession of anyone else other than mine, and the only thing that was lost, was my $80 shirt that was ripped if da scuffle.
    SUMO

  • Thank You

    Thank you for going the extra mile. This would not have happened a few months ago. Unfortunately if u fight back when u get mugged u were the one locked up. I hope that changes too. Criminals should be recognized for what they are and they should realize they no longer could play the victim. This with making sure teens are in school not hanging on the streets will hopefully deter crime.

  • David

    # 10, seriously?

    Thank you very much Captain John Lewis, our community applauds and thanks you for doing this.

  • too early to feel safe

    The cops -1
    Muggers, thieves & lowlives – too many to count.

    This is a BEGINNING, folks, NOT a solution…yet. Don’t relax, there’ll be another tomorrow.

  • i respect crownheights.info objectivity

    despite years of dissapointing mediocraty by the old leadership, webby was able to apply differentiate the new from the old, without prejudging Lewis!

    thanlk u chinfo
    & thyank u Honorable Sir Lewis!

    A grateful father of 5

  • Afraid of lefty judges, not street thugs

    Regardless of strength or size, very few legitimate citizens can afford the agmas nefesh of arrests and lawsuits that accompany self-defense in NYC.

    Sometimes the best thing to do is to call the cops and save the macho stuff for fantasies.

  • Sari

    A good start. Crown Heights needs a proactive police force that will not tolerate violence discrimination or any form of hate crime.
    Let be clear, thugs are thugs they don’t dicriminate; they’ll steal a cell phone, ipod, jacket or sneakers off one of their own too.
    On more than one occassion Jewish men/bochrim have come to the aid of African American kids (as young as 10) beating one another up right in front of police officers stationed outside Lefferts park.

  • to SUMO

    Sorry to hear about ur shirt. Thanks for following through. They learned a lesson in crime 101: crime don’t (ebonics) pay.

  • avi

    Perhaps we should all call the station and thank them for this. If they see they get a good response, they will continue to help and fight crime…

  • Union St neighbor

    Way to go Hecht !!! WE love having you on our block !
    Keep up the great work .

  • THANK YOU

    Please stay AGGRESSIVE against the criminals like you were today, and 90% of the community will end up loving the police. Good work.

  • DeClasse- Intellectual

    Now, the next step is for the judicial system to do its job propoerly instead of midly scoding them

  • Lesson

    You don’t need cops on the street, you don’t need people hiding their cell phones or staying home at night. You just need the will to fight crime.

    In this case they used simple logic to find the criminal. then they arrested him IN FRONT of their pairs. Every criminal leaves clues, till now they just ignored it. I hope this has changed for good.

  • Shtam Me

    SUMO – HAHA ROFLMAO TOO FUNNY.

    Hey Webby you just upped a notch on my radar – thanks for posting this story and not otherwise – was worth it trust me!!

    Hey Cap’n Lewis thanks for going to bat here – ignore the yelpers here – well done – keep it up .

    All else – we argue alot but overall we all get along ya know ;)

    Shabat shalom!

  • Huurrraaaayyyyy & Thank You!

    Someone with common sense who is actually interested in doing real police work and making a difference. Can we clone you and put one in each precinct? This city would be the saftest in the world!

    Thank you & may you go from strength to strengh

  • mike

    hey capn’n louis thanks you da best.
    Hey vinny m sorry you get sidetracked alot but we know who is always tryin to help ;)

  • Funny.

    The 71 has really changed ever since scaminetti and his cigar chomping buddy Lenny has left. Officer Lewis for president. But thank you 71 keep up the good work. As a community we all should contact the district attorneys office and make a statement to keep this person in jail for good.