DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — A serial robber tried to steal phones from two different straphangers in quick succession in Downtown Brooklyn, targeting a 63-year-old Indonesian tourist who successfully fended him off, then swiping one man's 20 minutes later, according to prosecutors.
Rashon White, 18, first struck at about 11 a.m. on April 17, walking up behind a 20-year-old man who was walking to work near the northeast corner of Livingston and Bond streets, police said. He tapped the victim on the shoulder, and flashed a knife at him, police said. The victim forked over a cellphone valued at $700 and the robber fled, according to a police report.
White struck again the next day, at about 12:30 on April 18, when he targeted a 63-year-old Indonesian tourist who wrestled his attacker to the ground, and managed to hold onto his phone as the suspect fled, according to a police report.
He tried again about 20 minutes later, asking to see a third man’s phone and walking away with the device, prosecutors said. Police later caught him red-handed with the stolen cellphone and a bag of heroin, and connected him to the two earlier incidents, according to a criminal complaint.
White was arraigned in Brooklyn Criminal Court on a host of charges including robbery, grand larceny, drug possession and weapons possession, prosecutors said. A grand jury indicted him on charges related to the incidents, but the charges are sealed pending his arraignment in Brooklyn Supreme Court, which has not yet been scheduled, according to a spokesman for the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office.
He’s currently being held on Rikers Island on $8,500 cash bail, records show.
Other recent crimes in the 84th Precinct include:
►A female gem thief stole thousands of dollars in jewelry from a man after he and his pal invited the woman back to the victim’s Willoughby Street apartment, according to a police report.
The victim, a 31-year-old man, and his friend met the woman at a nearby deli at 8 p.m. April 16 and decided to bring her home to hang out, police said. At some point the friend left the apartment, and the victim drifted off to sleep around 11 p.m., according to a police report.
The victim awoke the next morning to find that his guest had left in the night, taking along with her a pile of pricey jewelry he had left on his kitchen counter, police said. According to the victim, she swiped two diamond bracelets, which he valued at $3,000 apiece, and a diamond watch, which he said was worth $10,000, police said.
The bandit was described as a woman around the age of 20, standing about 5-feet-8-inches tall and weighing about 190 pounds, police said.
►A pack of thieves attacked a teen as she was walking on Fourth Avenue, according to a police report.
The victim, 19, was headed southbound on Fourth Avenue near the corner of Warren Street at about 9 p.m. on April 19, when four young men approached her and demanded she hand over her bag, police said.
One of the group, a man who appeared to be around 20 years old, punched and kicked the girl, but she managed to hold onto her bag until the group fled, police said.
