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The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
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CRIME BLOTTER: Purse Snatchings Investigated in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens

 This week's notable crimes in the 71st Precinct in Crown Heights and Prospect-Lefferts Gardens include two purse robberies, an assault at a bus stop and an arrest over a fake gun.
This week's notable crimes in the 71st Precinct in Crown Heights and Prospect-Lefferts Gardens include two purse robberies, an assault at a bus stop and an arrest over a fake gun.
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flickr/Clemens v. Vogelsang

PROSPECT-LEFFERTS GARDENS — A pair of women had their purses snatched by different suspects a day apart in early-morning robberies in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens last week, police said.

The first incident happened around 6:30 a.m. on Oct. 16, when a 31-year-old woman was walking to work along Midwood Street between Flatbush and Bedford avenues, police said.

The woman told police she saw a man following her for several blocks before he walked in front of her, turned around and grabbed her Kate Spade purse off her shoulder. The bag contained an iPhone, Samsung phone, multiple credit and debit cards and an Ohio driver’s license, police said.

The suspect then fled westbound on Midwood Street.

Then, exactly a day later at 6:30 a.m. on Oct. 17, a 23-year-old woman was walking along Parkside Avenue between Flatbush and Bedford avenues when an unknown man walked up behind her, snatched her purse from her shoulder and ran northbound on Bedford Avenue, police said. Her Michael Kors bag contained $20, her wallet, a MetroCard, an ID card and a Galaxy S4 cellphone.

Investigators do not believe the two incidents are related. No suspects have been identified in either crime and no arrests have been made.

Other notable crimes in this week’s blotter from the 71st Precinct in Crown Heights and Prospect-Lefferts Gardens include:

The map above depicts only those blotter items compiled by DNAinfo New York within the date range indicated, not all crimes that took place in a given precinct. To see all previous crime blotters from the precinct, click here.

► A 35-year-old man walking on Lincoln Road between Ocean and Flatbush avenues at 8:30 a.m. on Oct. 14 was approached by three males, one of whom put a knife to his chest and demanded, “give me your wallet or I’m going to poke your s--t,” the victim told police. The man gave the suspects his wallet containing $40, his Social Security card and New York State ID before the three men fled on foot.

► A 30-year-old man was walking home from a friend’s house near Schenectady Avenue and President Street at 12:30 p.m. on Oct. 14 when an unknown male came up behind him and stabbed him in the back, arm and foot, police said. The victim was treated at Kings County Hospital.

► A 17-year-old boy walking home from school last week was attacked by three male suspects who tried to rob him, police said. The teen was walking along Sullivan Place and Washington Avenue around 3 p.m. on Oct. 14 when the group came up behind him and went through his pockets before striking him on the left side of the head with an unknown object, police said. The teen was taken to Kings County Hospital with cuts and bleeding from his face.

► Two men were arrested for marijuana possession and having a fake gun after they were spotted by police smoking a joint while riding in a black Buick sedan at the corner of Carroll Street and Nostrand Avenue around 11:30 p.m. on Oct. 14, police said. During a search of the vehicle, officers found an imitation pistol, which is illegal in New York.

► An unknown male walked into the AT&T retail store at 1110 Eastern Parkway near Utica Avenue at 1:30 p.m. on Oct. 17 and stole two iPhones, police said. An employee at the store said the man grabbed the phones and ran out of the store, fleeing westbound on the parkway. No injuries or damage was reported.

► A 34-year-old man was arrested for stealing a Citi Bike from the corner of Eastern Parkway and Brooklyn Avenue at 9:50 a.m. on Oct. 17, police said. Officers observed the man riding the bicycle, which had been defaced, and arrested him after checking Citi Bike’s records, which indicated the bike had been reported stolen on Aug. 28.

► A 53-year-old man was robbed as he waited for the bus around 8:40 a.m. on Oct. 20, police said. The man was sitting at the bus stop on New York and Clarkson avenues when two unknown men approached him, threatened him with a black firearm and told him “don’t even look.” They took $300 in cash from his pockets, as well a DVD player from his bookbag, police said.