By Jill Colvin
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MIDTOWN — Police are warning women to watch their purses after a spate of thefts in and around Times Square.
Despite the area's growing reputation as a child-friendly playground, crime in the zone is on the rise, with a jump of nearly 26 percent in grand larcenies in the most recently reported month (Jan. 10-Feb. 13), versus the same period last year, police said. Crime in general in the area is also up 14 percent over the same stretch in 2010.
Most of the recorded crimes were grand larcenies happening indoors in restaurants and hotels, Times Square Zone Captain Owen Rogan said.
Driving the problem, he said, were brazen thieves who targeted women who left their purses on the floor or on the back of their chairs.
"They have it down to a science," said Rogan, citing video surveillance footage that has captured thieves cleverly kicking items away from their rightful owners, or plopping their own belongings on top of another person's bag and then sneakily making off with the items. If thieves are caught in the act, they artfully apologize for their mistake, he said.
Tracy Perkins, 42, who is visiting from north of Boston with her husband, daughters and their friends, said she warned everyone to be very conscientious, despite the city's safe reputation.
"I told them, 'Be careful, You're in the big city,'" she said.
But despite the caution, Perkins herself has already had a scare.
She said she believes she was almost the victim of a crime Sunday when a strange woman approached her while she was standing in line for the Ferris wheel in the Toys 'R' Us store in Times Square. The woman complimented her coat and then reached over for a hug.
Perkins thought the encounter was strange, but had no idea what had happened until she was warned by someone else in line that the woman had been trying to steal cash. Thankfully nothing was taken, she said.
Still, Perkins said she felt safe roaming around the square as she held her ruffled black leather purse close.
David Cullinane, 40, visiting from Ireland, also said he felt perfectly safe in Midtown, which has changed a great deal since his previous visit in 1998. Still, he said that as a tourist, he was always on guard.
"I know to be careful with out stuff," Cullinane said, as he took a break from snapping photos of the billboards in Times Square. "As a tourist, you're cautious."
