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Bandit With Socks on Head and Hands Snatches Woman's Cellphone, Police Say

By Janet Upadhye | March 4, 2014 6:42am
 A sock-covered suspect approached a woman in the Walt Whitman Houses and stole her phone, police say.
A sock-covered suspect approached a woman in the Walt Whitman Houses and stole her phone, police say.
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Thinkstock/Thomas Northcut

FORT GREENE — A man with socks covering his head and hands snatched a cellphone from a woman in the lobby of the Walt Whitman Houses after he lured her there, police sources said. 

The 29-year-old woman received a call about 11:25 p.m. Feb. 19 from a man who told her he found her number on the classified ad website backpage.com and said that he was her neighbor, sources said.

The woman, thinking she knew the caller, went down to her building's lobby on Cumberland Walk and was approached by a man whose hands and entire head were covered by socks, police said. The mystery bandit pointed a hard object at her that was also covered by a sock, officials said.

The man took the woman's Samsung Galaxy cellphone and fled, the sources said. No arrests have been made in connection to the incident, sources said.

Other notable crimes in this week's blotter at the 88th Precinct included the following, according to police sources:

• A large group of people attacked a 26-year-old man at the Applebee's inside Atlantic Terminal. The victim needed stitches for cuts to his neck and hand after the Feb. 22 incident. Police arrested two suspects.

• A 23-year-old woman had her wallet stolen on the G train last month. The victim told police a thief pressed up against her on Feb. 20 at 5:20 p.m. and took her wallet with a USAA debit card, Wells Fargo debit card and military identification inside. The suspect fled at the Classon Avenue stop and unsuccessfully tried to use the stolen card to buy a MetroCard, according to the police report.

• An Apple MacBook Pro and Apple wireless mouse were stolen from the dorm room of a 19-year-old Pratt Institute student on Feb. 21. The student told police he left for class and found the computer missing when he returned at 5 p.m. The student locked his room but his suitemate, who shares an adjoining room, left his door unlocked, according to the report.