TRIBECA — A knife-wielding thief made off with 40 cans of Red Bull from a TriBeCa 7-Eleven after threatening to slit a store employee’s throat, police said.
The store’s clerk noticed a man taking several four-packs of the energy drink from the refrigerator — and trying to conceal the cans in his jacket — in the back of 311 Broadway shop at about 8:30 a.m. on June 16, police said.
As the thief proceeded to walk out of the store with 10 four-packs of the drink, the employee followed him, attempting to stop him. The thief then turned around with a knife, and told the employee, “I will slit your throat and f--- your family,” before fleeing, police said.
Police were still investigating the crime as of Tuesday.
The store is no stranger to theft. In April, an employee was attacked with a skateboard by a group of five shoplifters who swiped candy from the store.
Other recent crimes in the 1st Precinct include:
► A woman attacked a straphanger on a southbound A train on June 20 at 11:10 p.m., police said. The 33-year-old victim said he was sitting on the train when Sheila Reynoso, 25, starting yelling at him, and pushed his arm, causing his watch to fall off his wrist. She then grabbed the watch and threw it at him, cutting his face, police said
The victim and his attacker both exited the train at the Spring Street station. The man was taken to Bellevue Hospital, and Reynoso, was arrested and charged with assault, police said. Information about her attorney was not immediately available.
► A man had his $4,300 accordion stolen from the trunk of his car, which was parked in the Gateway Plaza Garage at 339 South End Ave., police said. The man told police that he parked his Nissan Pathfinder in the location at 7:15 p.m. on June 1, and when he returned several hours later, at about 10:30 p.m., the accordion was missing.
► A man and two women attempted to shoplift two pricey handbags from the Porsche Design shop at 465 West Broadway on June 22, but only made off with one, worth $2,250, police said.
The three shoplifters came into the store at about 1:15 p.m., the man quickly grabbed one bag off a shelf, one of the women swiped another and the third accomplice acted as lookout. The three tried to quickly hurry out the door, but a store employee followed them out and grabbed one of the bags back. The trio, with the black leather Porsche Design handbag, fled in a 2005 Grey Nissan Sedan with Virginia license plates that was waiting for them, police said.
The upscale store was a victim of shoplifting just a few weeks ago, when two men and a woman stole a $1,950 handbag from the shop and walked out unnoticed, until employees later checked surveillance video. It was unclear whether the incidents were related.
► A 20-year-old woman tried to chase down a thief who swiped her iPhone from her back pants pocket as she walked past 116 South St. at 10:50 a.m. on June 22, police said. The victim told police a man grabbed the phone from her pocket, while she listened to music on headphones that were attached to the phone. When she realized what happened she tried to run after the man, sprinting behind him down South Street, but she lost him when he turned onto Peck Slip, police said.
► A shoplifter swiped a $1,750 handbag from designer shop Ralph Lauren at 109 Prince St. on June 21. The thief quickly took the handbag from a counter at about 2 p.m. and fled the store, police said.
► A woman had her handbag stolen from SoHo coffee shop Aroma Espresso Bar on June 21 at about 5:30 p.m., police said. The 25-year-old said she placed her $80 bag at her feet while she drank coffee at the 145 Greene St. shop, and when she got up to leave, she realized it was missing. The bag also contained a $250 Tory Burch wallet, $100 Warby Parker sunglasses, a $112 monthly MetroCard and two credit cards.
