LOWER EAST SIDE — A thief stole two smartphones from a pair of men after threatening them inside a building at Rutgers Houses, then vowed the victims would never see him again, police said.
Police said the robber followed the 19- and 20-year-old men Jan. 10 as they walked on the street at about 11 p.m. The thief suggested he had a weapon in his pocket and ordered them into 54 Rutgers St., police said.
“Give me your s—t,” the man told the friends, according to the NYPD. They handed over an iPhone 6, worth $600, and a Samsung Galaxy S3, worth $100, police said.
“You will never see me again,” the thief said, before fleeing the scene, according to the NYPD.
Police said the suspect was 6 feet tall, weighed approximately 190 pounds and had brown eyes and short black hair.
Other notable incidents in the 7th Precinct include:
► A man buying food at a Delancey Street McDonald’s got a knuckle sandwich when an argument with three people turned violent last week, police said.
Police said 23-year-old John Pena, 21-year-old Anina Ahmad and one other unidentified person hit the man at about 1 a.m. on Jan. 9. According to the NYPD, the attack caused pain and swelling to the man’s left eye.
Pena and Ahmad received desk appearance tickets and are set to appear in court in late February, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s office. Their attorney information was not immediately available. Contact information for Pena and Ahmad was not immediately available.
McDonald’s declined to comment.
► A teenager consulting his iPhone for directions caught the attention of a man who followed the 19-year-old into a nearby café and took his phone, police said.
The teen looked up directions on his iPhone 4s after he exited the East Broadway subway station at Rutgers and Canal streets on Jan. 13 at 6:15 p.m., police said.
A man wearing a brown hoodie and dark blue jeans then approached the teen, according to the NYPD, who went inside Ming's Café at 28 Canal St. after the man got close.
The man followed the 19-year-old into the restaurant and began asking him “What’s in your pocket?” police said. The teen then called 911 and as he was on the phone with an operator, the man tried to distract him, police said.
The man kept "intimidating" the teenager until the victim "released his phone" from his right hand, according to the NYPD. Police said the man took the phone, which was worth $100, as well as the phone’s $10 case and a $10 pair of black and white headphones.
The man had brown eyes, short brown hair and stood at about five feet and seven inches tall, police said.
Ming's Café did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
► A 51-year-old woman had her bag stolen on her way home, police said. The thief swiped it behind Grand Street Settlement, located at 80 Pitt St., on Jan. 6 at 1 p.m. The purse-snatcher fled the scene and headed eastbound toward Masaryk Towers on Columbia Street, according to the NYPD.
The black purse, worth $40, contained a $200 black HTC Metro Plus cellphone, $30 in cash, a benefit card, ID card and keys, police said.
Police said the suspect was a 5-foot-5 man, about 25 years old and 120 pounds.
