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Man Steals 3 Champagne Bottles by Stuffing Them Into His Pants, Police Say

By Lisha Arino | February 5, 2015 11:51am
 An interior view of Beauty & Essex, located at 146 Essex St.
An interior view of Beauty & Essex, located at 146 Essex St.
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Baltz & Company

LOWER EAST SIDE — A thief stole three bottles of Champagne worth more than $2,000 from Beauty & Essex by stuffing them in his pants and walking out, police said. 

Anthony Coqueran, 48, took the bottles from a refrigerator inside the swanky restaurant and lounge, located at 146 Essex St., before making off with them just before 5 a.m. on Jan. 29, police said. They were worth a total of $2,040.

Police arrested Coqueran inside Beauty & Essex two days later at 1:20 a.m. and found a glassine of heroin in his wallet, according to a criminal complaint from the Manhattan District Attorney's office.

“This arrest for the bottles?” he asked police, the complaint said. “Everyone steals them. I’m not the only one. Taking bottles, is that a misdemeanor or a felony? How much were those bottles worth?” 

Coqueran was charged with grand larceny and criminal possession of a controlled substance with bail set at $3,500 cash or $5,000 bond. He is due in court Thursday.

Beauty & Essex and Coqueran’s attorney did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Other recent crimes in the 7th Precinct include:

► Two men wearing black jackets and masks threatened a woman with a knife and stole her iPhone 6, $650 Silence and Noise bag, $400 Moncler jacket and other belongings on Jan. 31 at 7:55 p.m. at a Baruch Houses parking lot, police said.

The woman, 21, had gotten off a bus on Delancey Street and walked into the parking lot when the men — who were both described as 5 foot 8 inches tall and 170 pounds — came up to her, according to the NYPD. The woman, police said, was also “struck with an unknown object” that left marks and swelling on her face. Police said the men fled toward FDR Drive.

In addition to her phone, bag and jacket, the thieves stole $215 in cash, a 30-day unlimited ride MetroCard, a pair of Nike Roshe sneakers worth $80, a Cooperative wallet worth $34, her Chase debit card and a New York State driver’s license, police said.

► Police said a burglar woke up a 31-year-old woman while stealing a $1,000 MacBook Air from her Delancey Street apartment on Feb. 1.

The burglar came in through an open bathroom window, police said, and the woman woke up to find him standing in the bedroom doorway at 1:30 a.m. When the woman asked the burglar who he was, he tried to leave through the front door of the Delancey Street apartment, but was “unsuccessful,” according to the NYPD.

“Do you need help?” the woman asked, according to police. The stranger replied that he did, before fleeing down the stairs with the laptop and $20 green computer case, police said.

► A teenager snatched a 22-year-old woman’s black iPhone 5 from her hand at the East Broadway subway stop on Jan. 30 at 1:45 p.m., police said.

The woman was holding her phone while reading an e-book on a southbound F train, police said. When the train reached the East Broadway stop, a teenage boy wearing a black balaclava facemask entered the car and grabbed the $250 phone, which was wrapped in a $20 OtterBox case, according to the NYPD.

Police said the woman ran after the thief as he fled the station, but lost him. The teenager was about 15 years old and 5-foot-5 with brown eyes, according to the NYPD.