PROSPECT-LEFFERTS GARDENS — A huge construction site in the neighborhood took a big hit this week when burglars took a load of copper parts from the basement of the unfinished building, local police said.
Workers at 626 Flatbush Ave., the 23-story residential tower under construction near Fenimore Street, discovered on the morning of June 30 that the lock on a basement door of the building had been cut and approximately $7,000 worth of copper piping and plumbing fixtures stored there were gone.
Police believe the burglary took place between 5:30 p.m. Monday night and 7 a.m. Tuesday morning.
The Hudson Companies building has been under construction for about a year and a half after facing multiple legal challenges to build. When completed, the project will have 254 apartments, 20 percent of which will be set aside for tenants making 40 to 50 percent of the area’s median income.
Other notable crimes in this week’s blotter from the 71st Precinct in Crown Heights and Prospect-Lefferts Gardens include:
► A woman stole 14 paper checks from the St. Francis of Assisi Catholic school at 400 Lincoln Road at about 9 a.m. on June 24, police said. The woman cashed one check worth $2,743.47 and attempted to cash another worth $2,000, but Chase Bank canceled the rest before she could.
► Two men got into a gunfight at about 10 a.m. on June 25 in front of 270 Crown St., between Dearborn Court and Nostrand Avenue. An officer in a nearby patrol car heard the shots and saw a man with a gun throw the weapon under a parked car. The man, 23-year-old Keith Luncheon, had been shot in the right leg. He was treated at Kings County Hospital and subsequently arrested. A 32-caliber semi-automatic pistol was recovered at the scene of the shooting.
► Two men with handguns tried to rob a shoe repair store at 359 Utica Ave. at about 11:15 a.m. on June 26, but the proprietor of the store chased them out of the location with a hammer. One of the suspects fired one round into the store as he fled, striking the countertop. No one was injured and the suspects are still at large, police said.
► A 12-year-old boy was robbed of his iPhone when two older teenage boys, approximately 16 years old, threatened him and told him to empty his pockets as he walked along Winthrop Street, near Brooklyn Avenue, at about 12:30 p.m. June 26. The two suspects fled on foot eastbound on Winthrop Street.
► On June 27, a 38-year-old man was arrested for flashing a black handgun at a man he’d been arguing with in the community center of the CAMBA Gardens supportive housing complex at 738 Albany Ave., near Clarkson Avenue. After the fight took place at about 12:45 p.m., police were called and the man was arrested and will be charged with two counts of menacing.
► A woman stole almost $500 and 20 chicken wings from the Checkers restaurant at 43 Empire Blvd. after she threatened its employees, smashed a cash register on the ground and took $494.50 in cash at about 12:20 p.m. on June 28. She also took 20 chicken wings from the fast food joint, police said. No one was seriously injured in the incident and the woman is still at large.
► A man discovered all four of his Honda Accord’s tires and rims had been stolen and replaced by cinderblocks as he headed to work at about 5:30 a.m. on Tuesday, June 30. The car has been parked outside of his home on Winthrop Street, between Albany and Troy avenues, though it’s unclear if the vehicle was in a driveway or on the street. The tires and rims were worth approximately $2,800, according to the police report.
