MIDTOWN — A mani-pedi bandit who stole nearly $9,000 worth of nail polish from Duane Reades across Manhattan was arrested for selling crack after getting caught inside an apartment at the center of an undercover sting, officials said.
In May, police released a photo of Juan Baez, 48, after connecting him to three separate nail polish thefts at a pair of Duane Reades in Manhattan, where he stole $6,171 in Essie products between Jan. 7 and April 11, the NYPD said.
He was also linked to two other nail polish thefts at Manhattan Duane Reades — one at at 711 Third Ave., between East 44th and East 45th streets, on June 6, and another at 22 W. 48th St., between Fifth and Sixth avenues, on July 6, according to the Manhattan District Attorney's office.
In those incidents, the stores lost a total of $2,738 worth of nail polish to Baez, the DA’s office said.
In addition, on May 29 and June 30, Baez stole a total of $1,016 worth of condoms from a Duane Reade at 250 Broadway, between Park Place and Murray Street near City Hall, prosecutors said.
But a crack den that Baez frequented ultimately led authorities to the sticky-fingered suspect.
On June 13, an undercover narcotics detective bought several bags of crack from an unidentified man inside an apartment on West 141st St., between Malcolm X and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. boulevards, around 4:30 p.m., according to the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor.
Nearly a month later, on July 11, the officer went to the same apartment around 5:30 p.m. and was met at the door by Baez, who looked the officer up and down before letting him into the apartment, where the officer bought crack from a 44-year-old woman, a complaint said.
Two days later, around 2 p.m., the undercover officer went back to the apartment and once again bought crack from the 44-year-old woman, according to the complaint.
Five minutes later, the officer returned with a warrant and found 60 Ziploc bags full of crack, $359 in cash and a bag of marijuana inside the 44-year-old’s fanny pack, the complaint said.
The officer also found a bag of crack on the floor, a plate covered in crack residue and empty Ziploc bags inside a cabinet, according to the complaint.
Baez and a 50-year-old man were sitting inside the apartment with a crack pipe on the table between them, as well as "additional pipes" on a nearby shelf, the complaint said.
The 50-year-old had six Ziploc bags of crack, as well as $400 in cash, in his pants pocket, the complaint said.
Baez was charged with criminal sale of a controlled substance, criminal possession of a controlled substance and criminally using drug paraphernalia, according to the complaint.
For the nail polish thefts, he was charged with five counts of grand larceny and three counts of petit larceny, the DA’s office said.
Baez is currently being held at the Manhattan Detention Complex on $70,000 bail and is expected to appear in court on July 19, city Department of Correction records show.
His attorney Stephen Pokart on Monday noted that Baez was not the one who tried to sell the crack to the undercover officer.
“On one occasion, [Baez] wasn’t there. On the other occasions, he opened the door, and he was sitting on a loveseat, and that’s it,” he said.
He declined to comment on the alleged nail polish thefts.
“He got arrested, he’s charged with a number of crimes, and we’ll do the best we can working it out with the DA,” Pokart said.
