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Robber Asks 'Are You That Rapper?' Before Snatching iPhone, Cops Say

By Leslie Albrecht | September 18, 2013 9:01am
 A 27-year-old man had his iPhone stolen by a thief who first asked him, "Are you that rapper?"
A 27-year-old man had his iPhone stolen by a thief who first asked him, "Are you that rapper?"
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PARK SLOPE — A robber who played to his victim's ego snatched an iPhone from a man in Prospect Heights recently, cops said.

The 27-year-old victim told cops he was walking near Carlton Avenue and St. Marks Avenue on Sept. 14 at 7:30 p.m. when a man approached him and asked, "Are you that rapper?"

The victim struck up a conversation with the man, who then pulled out a brown gun and said, "I got a gun, let me get your iPhone." The robber, who had a tattoo of a cross below his right eye and a blotchy complexion, snatched the victim's iPhone 5 and ran westbound on St. Marks Avenue toward Flatbush Avenue, according to a police report.

The Find My iPhone app later showed the phone at Bedford Avenue and Park Place, but a search of the area turned up nothing.

Other notable crimes from this week's blotter at the 78th Precinct include the following, with details taken from police reports:

• A woman was walking her dog while talking to a friend on her iPhone, when a robber sneaked up behind her and snatched the device. The woman, 47, was on Eighth Avenue between Garfield Place and Carroll Street about 11:50 p.m. on Sept. 11 when the robbery occurred.

• A woman stashed a bag with two wallets, an iPhone, and some clothing inside a fenced area beneath a stoop on Carroll Street between Sixth and Seventh avenues on Sept. 8 at 10:30 a.m.  When she ducked inside the building to get a bike out of the basement, a quick thief stole the bag.

• A man had more than $6,500 in valuables stolen from his car after it was parked for only an hour inside the parking garage at the Atlantic Terminal shopping mall on Atlantic and Flatbush avenues on Sept. 15. The man, 47, returned to his 2007 Subaru Outback at 6:30 p.m. and found the passenger side rear window smashed. The stolen property included a $950 Nikon digital camera, $2,600 in Nikon lenses, a $700 Nikon flash, an iPad, Florsheim dress shoes, Ray-Ban sunglasses, earrings, a necklace and $300 in cash.

• A 65-year-old woman had all four tires and rims stolen off her 2013 black Honda Accord when it was parked on Berkeley Place between Seventh and Eighth avenues on Sept. 8. at 3:30 p.m. The thief took the car's Michelin tires with 18-inch silver rims, and left the vehicle sitting on four jacks.

• A 38-year-old woman was shopping at Burlington Coat Factory on Atlantic Avenue on Sept. 14 at 4:30 p.m. when her purse was stolen out of a dressing room. The bag contained an $1,800 heart monitor, medication, a report from the victim's doctor, and a 32GB iPod.

Overall in the 78th Precinct, major crimes have dropped 4.9 percent this year compared with the same period in 2012, according to the most recent statistics from the NYPD.