LOWER EAST SIDE — A thief posed as a customer before stealing a clothing boutique employee's wallet last week, authorities said.
Shaniah Lord, 19, pretended to shop for an upcoming trip at Yumi Kim, located at 105 Stanton St., on Jan. 4 before stealing a 26-year-old employee’s Chanel wallet from her purse, which was hanging on a chair behind the register, according to authorities and the victim.
“She gave me a story about how she was going away and she needed some dresses,” said the 26-year-old store manager, who did not wish to be named. “She started trying stuff on and just chatting with me and she seemed pretty normal to me.”
Lord, who was the only customer in the store at the time, asked the manager to get her different sizes and show her different items, the 26-year-old said.
While the manager was pulling out merchandise at around 6:15 p.m., Lord reached into the employee’s purse and stole her wallet and makeup bag, said police and prosecutors.
Lord placed the items, which also included cash and credit cards, into her bag and left the shop, according to prosecutors and the NYPD. When the manager realized the items were missing a few minutes later, she rushed out of the store to look for Lord.
She followed Lord to the Orchard Street Hotel, located at 163 Orchard St., who told her, “I have your stuff. Stop following me, wait right here. I will be right back,” according to authorities.
Police said Lord retreated into a room inside the hotel while the employee called 911. Prosecutors said a woman claiming to be Lord’s friend gave the employee her wallet back, although the manager said she only got back her perfume and her empty makeup bag.
Lord was arrested and charged with grand larceny and released on her own recognizance, prosecutors said. She is due in court on March 16, according to court records.
Lord’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Other recent crimes in the 7th Precinct include:
► A man with a large screwdriver popped open the lock of a rear door of a van belonging to a company called North American Elevator on Jan. 2 at 4:10 p.m. in front of 466 Grand St., police said.
An employee spotted the man, walked to the van and pushed on the door, police said.
“Sorry, I did not know it was your van,” the man said to the employee, according to the NYPD, before hopping into a minivan with a South Carolina license plate parked in front of the company vehicle.
Police said the suspect was 6-foot-1 and about 40 years old with short black hair, weighing about 210 pounds.
North American Elevator did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
► Two men stole a 21-year-old woman’s iPhone 6 after chatting her up outside a pizzeria located at 151 Ludlow St. at about 1 a.m. on New Year’s Day, police said. While they distracted her, one of the men reached into her purse and took her phone, according to the NYPD.
Police said the woman later received a phone call from a man saying he had her phone and would give it back to her for $140.
Police said the men were about 23 years old and about 5-foot-10 and 5-foot-11, with black hair worn in a close cut style.
► A burglar stole two iPads worth $600 altogether as well as $200 in cash from a Verizon Wireless store, located at 150 Delancey St., police said.
The burglar, wearing gloves and a ski mask, used a bicycle lock to break the store’s window at 6:54 a.m. on Jan. 3, according to police and a store manager.
Police said the suspect was about 5-foot-6, weighting around 160 pounds.
