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Rash Of Bike Thefts Plagues Lower Manhattan, Police Say

By Rebecca Fishbein | August 8, 2017 5:54pm
 There have been a number of bike thefts in Lower Manhattan over the last month, police said.
There have been a number of bike thefts in Lower Manhattan over the last month, police said.
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LOWER MANHATTAN — A number of bike thefts have been reported in Lower Manhattan over the last month, police said.

A 44-year-old Brooklyn man told police his $2,000 bike was stolen from a bike rack in front of 233 West St. on July 16. The victim locked his Giant bicycle to the rack at the location to eat in a nearby restaurant, but when he returned later the bike and the lock were gone, police said.

On July 30, a 60-year-old delivery man told police he was thrown off his e-bike after making a delivery near 41 Grand St. The victim said an unknown man grabbed him by the neck and threw him off the bike, then kicked him in the leg, told him not to move, and fled with the bike in an unknown direction. The bike was valued at $1,100, police said.

A Citi Bike went missing in front of 80 Pine St. on Aug. 3, police said. A Manhattan man said he left his bike unattended on the sidewalk outside the location, and when he returned, the bike was gone. Citi Bike did not immediately respond to request for comment.

Also on Aug. 3, a 32-year-old Brooklyn man told officers his bike went missing from inside the SoHo Grand Hotel at 10 Thompson St. The victim told police he last saw his $1,702 James Quest bicycle that Thursday evening when he was leaving work, and when he returned the following day the bike was missing. A manager was not immediately available to comment on the incident.

And on Aug. 6, a 38-year-old Manhattan man told police his bicycle was stolen from the bike rack in front of 36 Battery Place. The victim told police he locked his $1,200 Brompton bike to the rack, but it was missing when he returned.

There were no arrests in the above cases as of Tuesday, police said.

Other recent incidents in the 1st Precinct, according  to police, include:

► Paul Castro, 25, was arrested and charged with grand larceny for stealing $1,694 worth of assorted medications from the Duane Reade location at 250 Broadway, according to a criminal complaint from the Manhattan District Attorney's office. Employees say the man entered the location on Aug. 2, took property off the shelves, put it in a backpack and left the scene, police said. When he returned later, according to police, he no longer had the items on him. Stolen items include Zyrtec, Aleve, Excedrin, Tylenol and Midol, police said. A manager at Duane Reade declined to comment, and Castro's attorney did not immediately respond to request for comment. 

► A 24-year-old delivery man told police two thieves swiped a bag with laptops from his bike basket on Aug. 4. The victim says he was delivering a package and stopped at the northeast corner of Barclay Street and Broadway to check his GPS, whereupon two men grabbed the package from his bike basket and fled, police said. Though police say the man tried to follow the thieves, he was unable to catch them. The package contained two Apple laptops, along with two USB adaptors and wireless mouses, totaling $2,200 in value. The suspects are described as a 6-foot-2 man, 180 pounds, wearing blue shorts and a blue shirt, and a 6-foot-3 man, wearing black shorts and a black shirt. There were no arrests as of Tuesday, according to police.

► A woman told police her bag was stolen from Aurora in SoHo on July 3, though she did not report it missing until Aug. 3. She left her bag on the seat around 2 p.m., and someone took it, police said. The bag and its contents totaled $1,611 in value, police said, with missing items including her Michael Kors wallet, Ray Ban glasses, and prescription glasses. There were no arrests as of Tuesday, according to police, and a manager at the restaurant told DNAinfo New York he had no knowledge of the incident.