PARK SLOPE — A man who took his car to be repaired at a Fourth Avenue auto body shop found that his vehicle had been stolen when he returned to pick it up, according to a police report.
The 32-year-old customer left his 2001 gold Dodge sedan at L&B Auto Repair on Fourth Avenue and Carroll Street and returned on April 27 to pick it up.
"We're sorry about what happened, but we couldn't control it," manager Imad Dari told DNAinfo New York. He said he replaced the car's two front tires and fixed the wipers, then parked it on the street outside the shop, as he does with all of his customers' cars.
Dari called the customer to tell him it was ready on April 25, but the customer didn't come to pick up the car until April 27. He added that the repair shop's insurance will cover the cost of the car.
Other notable recent crimes in the 78th Precinct include the following, with details drawn from police reports:
► A 19-year-old man was arrested after stealing an 18-year-old man's cell phone outside the Target on Flatbush and Atlantic avenues on April 28 at 9:15 p.m. Police arrested Tariq Hargrove, who was with an accomplice when the two approached the 18-year-old and threatened to punch him. One of the two suspects then said, "I have a piece on me, give me your phone." The other suspect had not been arrested as of Thursday.
► A thief broke into a storage unit in an apartment building on President Street and Fourth Avenue and swiped $2,300 in valuables, including World War II medals, a wedding ring, emerald and diamond jewelry, and a baby's gold bracelet. The theft was discovered by the tenant on April 17. She told police that a building superintendent who had been recently fired had the keys to the unit.
► An administrative employee at Faro's restaurant on Seventh Avenue and Berkeley Place was caught on video stealing $1,200 in cash from an open safe at 12:50 a.m. on April 28. A representative for the restaurant could not be reached immediately for comment.
► A 2004 black Buick Century sedan was stolen from 11th Street between Eighth Avenue and Prospect Park West on May 1 about 6:30 p.m.
Overall, major crimes in the 78th Precinct have dropped 2.9 percent so far this year compared with the same period in 2014, according to the most recent NYPD statistics.
