LOWER EAST SIDE — A 50-year-old man was kidnapped at gunpoint and forced into a Pitt Street apartment, where he was robbed and held captive for nearly seven hours, police said.
Two men approached the victim as he walked along Broome Street about 2:30 a.m. Saturday, police said, and then forced him at gunpoint into a 15th-floor apartment at the Samuel Gompers Houses, located at 60 Pitt St.
Three other men joined the group inside the apartment, according to the NYPD. Carrell Johnson, 24, took the older man's phone, wallet, chain, cash and debit card as another man pointed a gun toward him, according to a criminal complaint. A woman was also inside the apartment, the complaint stated.
Johnson then held a knife to the victim's throat and demanded the PIN number of the debit card, threatening to kill him if he didn't tell, according to the complaint.
Police said the thieves later tried to use the man's debit card to withdraw money from a nearby ATM.
The 50-year-old was kept bound and gagged inside the apartment until approximately 9 a.m., when he was released on the building's rooftop, according to the complaint.
Johnson, who police say was involved with two other robberies in October and November, has been charged with kidnapping and robbery. Bail was set at $100,000 bond or $50,000 cash and he is due in court Friday.
Johnson's attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Other recent crimes in the 7th Precinct include:
► Two thieves in ski masks stole a 20-year-old man’s Canada Goose coat and cell phone after he parked his car outside the LaGuardia Houses at 4:15 a.m. on Jan. 24, police said.
“Run your pockets,” they said as they pointed what looked like guns at the victim, according to the NYPD.
The thieves — who police described as two men, one about 5-foot-9-inches tall — took the 20-year-old’s $650 coat, $700 smartphone and fled southbound on Clinton Street towards Cherry Street, police said.
► A 6-foot-tall man ran off with a woman’s purse, iPhone 5, $300 in cash and other belongings after a brief struggle, police said.
The 32-year-old woman was walking home on Hester Street towards Essex Street when the man, dressed in a green coat with a hood, approached and pushed her about 4:18 a.m. on Jan. 24, police said.
“Just let it go, ma,” the thief said as the woman resisted, according to the NYPD. Police said he eventually pulled away with an $80 brown purse and fled on Hester Street towards Ludlow Street.
The purse contained the woman’s cash and her $500 phone, as well as a $100 multicolored Betsey Johnson makeup bag, an $80 Badgley Mischka wallet, her driver’s license, Social Security card, debit card, keys and NYU school ID, police said.
► Two teenagers beat up a 44-year-old man and stole his wallet after one of them asked him for money at around 5:50 p.m. on Jan. 26 inside the Seward Park Extension housing complex at 154 Broome St., police said.
When the man reached into his pocket to retrieve his wallet, the teenage boys pulled his jacket over his head and started punching him, causing swelling, bruising and a small cut to his right eye and the top of his head, police said.
After searching the area, police found and arrested the teens, according to the NYPD. The teens were not immediately identified.
► Two men robbed a 26-year-old man as he was waiting for a ride home at 4 a.m. on Jan. 25, police said.
The man had just left La Caverna, located at 122-124 Rivington St., and was waiting in front of 123 Essex St., located diagonally from the bar, when the thieves approached him, police said.
Police said one of men began punching the victim and stole his $800 iPhone 6 before the thieves fled in a yellow cab.
Police said one of the thieves was 5-foot-7-inches tall, weighed approximately 150 pounds and had short hair. The other man stood at 6-foot-1-inches tall, weighed 180 pounds and had short, blond hair, according to the NYPD.
