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The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
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Thief Steals Wallet at Nightclub, Then Stays to Buy Drinks, Police Say

 A woman left her wallet at the Up and Down Club and returned to find a man racking up a tab on her credit card, police said.
A woman left her wallet at the Up and Down Club and returned to find a man racking up a tab on her credit card, police said.
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Facebook/Up & Down

GREENWICH VILLAGE — A thief who stole a woman's wallet at a local nightclub got caught at the same bar, charging drinks on the victim's credit card, police said.

Aaron Lorenzo, 25, chatted up a 26-year-old Virginia woman who was partying with friends at the Up and Down Club at 244 West 14th St. early in the morning of July 24, police said.

Lorenzo began talking to the woman when she broke away from her pals to use restroom, and then he followed her back to her friends, police said.

The woman told police she put her wallet down and forgot about it until about an hour after she'd left the club, which is known for banning Justin Bieber and Lindsay Lohan.

She rushed back about 2 a.m. and told the bartender she'd left her wallet there earlier.

The 30-year-old bartender immediately suspected Lorenzo, who was using one of the woman's credit cards to rack up a tab of boozy beverages, even signing her name on a receipt, police said.

Police found Lorenzo with the wallet, which contained two debit cards, two credit cards, a Virginia driver's license and $400 cash, all of which was returned to the Virginia woman. Officers also found Lorenzo with two additional credit cards belonging to a second woman and returned those as well.

Lorenzo was charged with identity theft, criminal possession of a forged instrument and six counts of criminal possession of stolen property, police said.

Lorenzo's attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Up and Down Club did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Other notable incidents in the 6th Precinct include:

► A man attacked a police officer after a group of officers broke up a fight at Sullivan Street and Bleecker Street last weekend, police said.

David Gerard Winston Smith, 24, approached one of the officers with his fists up and then shoved the officer about 4:30 a.m. July 26, police said.

When the officer tried to arrest Smith, he started flailing his arms and screaming, "I'm not going down."

Several officers eventually subdued Smith, but the officer who was initially attacked suffered an injury to his wrist, police said. The officer was taken to the new Lenox Hill HealthPlex on Seventh Avenue South.

Smith was charged with assault, police said. His attorney declined to comment.

► Two people were pickpocketed in the rooftop bar at the Gansevoort Hotel in the Meatpacking District, police said, but hotel security nabbed the thief before he made off with more than $1,000 worth of stuff.

Early in the morning of July 25, a 23-year-old woman told security at the bar that a man took her $90 gray Tory Burch wallet from her purse, and that the wallet had several credit cards in it.

A 34-year-old man also reported a man lifting his phone from his pocket, police said.

Hotel security stopped Howard McCormick, 48, about 2 a.m., and found the stolen goods on him. They held him until police arrived to arrest him on grand larceny charges.

All told, McCormick had taken the Tory Burch wallet, a black Visa card, a Bank of America Visa card, an American Express car, a Goldman Sachs ID card, a New Jersey driver's license, a $60 tan Tory Burch cellphone case, a $500 black iPhone 5, a $600 gold iPhone 5S and a $25 amber-colored cell phone case, police said.

McCormick's attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

► Two men got into an argument that turned physical in front of St. John's Lutheran Church at 83 Christopher St. just before 6 a.m. July 26, police said.

As the fight escalated, Diogenes Brito, 18, hit the 20-year-year-old victim in the arm with a glass bottle, cutting his left arm.

Brito was arrested and charged with assault, police said. His attorney could not immediately be reached.

► A teen chased down two thieves near Union Square after they punched him and stole his iPod and Beats by Dr. Dre headphones, police said.

The 18-year-old victim was walking past the coffee shop Joe at 9 E. 13th St. on July 28 about 4:50 p.m., when two 19-year-olds, Richard Silva and Christopher Wilder, yanked his headphones off his head and grabbed his iPod, police said.

While the victim was struggling with one of the teens, the other punched him in the face, and then they both took off running, police said.

The victim chased them, eventually running into a police officer, the NYPD said. The victim told the officer that he had been robbed, and the officer joined the chase, eventually catching up to the teens and returning the iPod and $275 headphones to the victim, police said.

Wilder and Silva were arrested and charged with robbery, police said. Silva's attorney declined to comment. Information on Wilder's attorney was not immediately available.