Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

CRIME BLOTTER: Men Caught Fishing Checks From Mailbox With String and Glue

 Two men were arrested in Crown Heights for stealing checks and money orders out of a mailbox.
Two men were arrested in Crown Heights for stealing checks and money orders out of a mailbox.
View Full Caption
Shutterstock

CROWN HEIGHTS — Two men were arrested in Crown Heights last week after they were caught taking checks and money orders from a mailbox with a glue-soaked bottle tied to a string, police said.

A witness saw Andy Santana, 23, and Javier Marte, 22, fishing for mail at a blue USPS mailbox on the corner of Schenectady and East New York avenues at 4 a.m. on Aug. 10 and called the police.

Officers found the two men with a stack of checks and money orders worth more than $3,000 from the mailbox, and a shoestring tied to a bottle soaked in glue they’d used to pick up the mail.

They were arrested and face burglary, criminal tampering and possession of burglary tools, among other charges, court records show. They were released from custody and are due back in court on Oct. 12. They are both represented by public defenders from the Legal Aid Society, who could not be reached for comment.

Other notable incidents in this week’s blotter from the 71st Precinct in Crown Heights, Prospect-Lefferts Gardens and East Flatbush include:​​​​​

► A 23-year-old resident of a men’s shelter was hospitalized after a 31-year-old man, also living at the facility, slashed him in the face as he passed by an argument the suspect was having with a third man. The incident took place at 12:20 a.m. on Aug. 10 at 599 Clarkson Ave., near East 42nd Street, police said, when the victim was returning to his bed at the shelter and passed by the suspect fighting with another resident. As he walked by, the 31-year-old man slashed him in the face with a foldable razor blade, then fled the building. The victim was treated at Kings County Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, police said. There has been no arrest.

► A 17-year-old boy delivering food on a motorized scooter was choked and robbed by two young men who stole cash, food, his phone and keys as he was making a delivery on Union Street near Brooklyn Avenue. The teen was taking a delivery to 1429 Union St. at 9:45 p.m. on Aug. 12 when two male suspects approached him. One wrapped his arm around the 17-year-old’s neck and demanded his money, phone and keys to the scooter, as well as the food he was carrying. The deliveryman told police he handed over everything to the second man because he couldn’t breathe and was losing consciousness. The two young men fled; a short time later, police canvassing the area found 18-year-old Jahkere Clark riding the stolen scooter and arrested him. He was charged with robbery and released from custody until an Oct. 2 court date, records show. His representative from Legal Aid could not be reached for comment. The second suspect has not yet been arrested, police said.

► A 30-year-old man was shot in the arm and buttocks in a shooting in front of 250 Crown St., near Dearborn Court, at approximately 10:20 p.m. on Aug. 12. He told police an unknown man fired two shots at him from a handgun, then fled. The man took himself to Lutheran Hospital where he was treated for non-life-threatening injuries. There has been no arrest.

The above list only describes those blotter items compiled by DNAinfo New York between Aug. 10 and Aug. 16, not all incidents that took place in a given precinct. To see all previous crime blotters from this precinct, click here.​​​​