Brazen Theft Occurs on Kingston Ave. in Broad Daylight

Yesterday, in Crown Heights’ heart of hearts and in broad daylight, a young Jewish woman was robbed of her phone. Shockingly and disappointingly, only one person on the busy street took notice and chased the thief; no one called for help or offered her any kind of assistance.

The incident occurred Sunday afternoon on the corner of Kingston Ave. and President St., at 5:00pm. An African-American teenager in a black ‘hoodie’ approached a 22-year-old Jewish woman, snatched her phone from her hand and fled.

Of all the people on the busy street, only one young man took notice of the incident and took action. He chased the perpetrator down President St. toward Albany Ave. and down Albany onto Crown St.

Only as the thief was being pursued down Crown St. towards Troy Ave. did a bystander call Shomrim and inform them that something was amiss.

Shomrim volunteers swarmed the area immediately, but unfortunately they got there just moments too late. The perpetrator had slipped into one of the nearby buildings and disappeared.

Police were then called, and the victim was assisted in filing a crime report. Police investigators followed up on a few alleged sightings of the perpetrator, but these turned out to be false leads.

The perpetrator was described as a young African-American male, 5’ 10” and thin, wearing a black ‘hoodie’ with a beige shirt underneath.

As the weather warms and spring approaches, community members are urged to take extra precautions with safety, as the warm weather typically correlates with higher levels of opportunistic crime.

13 Comments

  • Fed Up

    Don’t worry he is just taking back what is “rightfully his”, sarcasm of course. Hopefully the thug will get what’s coming to him instead of a slap on the wrist!

  • 48 yr in the hood,

    An African-American teenager in a black ‘hoodie’ approached a 22-year-old Jewish woman, snatched her phone from her hand and fled.

    WHY IS IT ALWAYS A AFRICAN AMERICAN ?
    MAY BE A CARIBBEAN AMERICAN ?
    MAYBE A BLACK WHO IS NOT EVEN A AMERICAN ? OR MAYBE JUST A DARK SKIN
    HOOD RAT ?

    • you have a point

      you have a point
      reporters have to word their message more thoughtfully .

  • again

    I hear people saying this, and I have to say it too:
    in this area, all the stores and even the homes….need surveillance cameras inside and outside. there is so much crime in Crown Hghts that they should have them subsidized.

  • Home bound

    The hundreds of our men wasting time at a useless ‘protest’ yesterday could have prevented this by being here in the neighborhood at that time instead.

    • cher

      How do you know the protest was useless? I was there and cancelled other plans to be there because all “members” of BDATZ encouraged people to go. Oh I have captured several criminals only to see them released for various reasons.

  • declasse' intelectual

    Why should anyone be surprised about the non-reaction? it is human nature not to get involved especially in such instances.
    More than that!! It is us to us to protect ourselves not to hope for outside aid. (1)Be aware of what is around you–how people walk the streets and are oblivious to everything. (2) do not advertise that you have a I-phone or such thing and if you need to use same be descreet so that you are not an easy target and (3) push for smart phones that have kill switches–once that word get around, they lose value and interest

  • Jewish dude

    We trace the calls that are made on this phone. Then everyone that is connected with the crime gets ten years in prison. That will teach the criminals a lesson.

  • to #4

    a weapon will do as you say, but does everyone have one?
    A camera can help find the perp and deal with his crime, and prevent it for the next time, as well as the fact that the word on “the street” is that there are cameras everywhere and they can be caught from that. Its not the end-all solution but it certainly can do something. Why not?

  • The truth can be frightening

    indeed it can! why is anyone shocked over this No one cares to help they are all so busy with themselves & worrying about the hundreds of dollars they are going to spend on Shalach monos with extravagance. Ask many in Th ch that can for help witha serious issue? fuhggetabout it they are toofull of themselves & too busy fighting etc.

  • nathan

    it goes to show you the jewish people in that area don’t care for one another