CROWN HEIGHTS — A would-be mugger wearing a clown mask tried to rob a man walking with a friend in Crown Heights this week, one of two robberies by a trio of masked suspects that took place exactly 48 hours apart on the same block, police said.
A 26-year-old man was walking along Nostrand Avenue just north of Empire Boulevard at 2:05 a.m. Tuesday when a group of three men approached him from behind, he told police.
One of them, wearing a clown mask, pushed him to the ground and searched his pockets for money, then fled empty-handed with his two accomplices north on Nostrand Avenue toward Sullivan Place. The victim was uninjured in the incident.
The incident took place just days after a victim told police he was walking to the subway with a friend on Nostrand Avenue just north of Empire Boulevard at 2:00 a.m. Sunday when three suspects in black masks approached the pair, told them to shut up and threatened them.
The victim dropped his bag, which the suspects swiped and then took off on foot; the man lost his cell phone and wallet.
Police have not yet identified suspects in the incidents but are investigating a possible link between the two robberies.
Other notable crimes in this week’s blotter from the 71st Precinct in Crown Heights, Prospect-Lefferts Gardens and East Flatbush include:
The map above depicts only those blotter items compiled by DNAinfo New York within the date range indicated, not all crimes that took place in a given precinct. To see all previous crime blotters from this precinct, click here.
► A 17-year-old girl was arrested for slashing another teen with a knife during an argument outside of a Midwood Street home between Rogers and Nostrand avenues. The assault took place at about 6:40 p.m on Oct. 12. The victim, a 17-year-old girl, was treated at Kings County Hospital for injuries to her right arm and hand.
► A 52-year-old man was arrested for swallowing two bags of crack cocaine as officers tried to question him about the illegal drugs on Oct. 14. Police saw the man holding the two baggies on the corner of Kingston Avenue and Maple Street at 1:40 p.m. When they approached the man, he swallowed the drugs, then told officers “I swallowed my medication.”
► A 24-year-old man and a 30-year-old woman were hospitalized after a shooting that took place outside of a party on Oct. 15 on Midwood Street between Albany and Troy avenues. The man was shot once in the abdomen and the woman was shot in the right hand. The shooting took place around 4:25 a.m. and also damaged an apartment window and two vehicles parked nearby.
► A knife-wielding man robbed a technology repair store on Flatbush Avenue after trying to sell a phone to a worker. The man entered 611 Flatbush Ave. at 5:40 p.m. and asked a 34-year-old worker to buy his phone. When the worker refused, the man grabbed a silver knife, threatened the employee and demanded money. The worker gave him some cash, but the suspect opened the cash register and took more, then fled. In total, the man took about $400 in cash.
