BROOKLYN
* A bird-brained thief named – of all things – Brian Brain was busted just blocks from where he and two cohorts had attacked and robbed a man in Crown Heights, authorities said yesterday.
Brain, 22, Milek Wicker, 16, and Shawn Whitlock, age unknown, set upon their 42-year-old victim at Pacific Street and Franklin Avenue, sources said.
Brain allegedly bashed the victim in the head with a brick. Wicker then smashed the victim with a metal scooter and Whitlock hit the injured man with a bike.
Brain went through the victim’s pockets and grabbed a watch.
Someone called 911 and the suspects fled. Hours later, the victim, accompanied by police, pointed out Brain and Whitlock, who were hanging out just three blocks from the crime scene.
As cops arrested Brain, Whitlock ran into his nearby apartment, sources said. The officers caught Whitlock and Wicker in the apartment.
Police recovered 18 plastic bags of crack cocaine from Wicker and a loaded .25-caliber semi-automatic after Whitlock’s mother told cops where to find it.
The three suspects were charged with assault and robbery.
* A teenager was arrested after groping a woman during an attempted purse-snatching on a Williamsburg street, authorities said yesterday.
Sources said Oscar Duarte, 17, confronted the 31-year-old woman on Devoe Street near Leonard Street at about 2:50 a.m. Wednesday.
Duarte clutched her wrist and grabbed her purse, sources said. The victim screamed, but Duarte refused to let go until he saw two men approaching.
Duarte then allegedly fondled the woman and dashed away.
The victim called 911 and gave police a description of Duarte, who was arrested on charges of menacing, forcible touching and attempted grand larceny.
* A teenager was stabbed to death by assailants in Brownsville, police said yesterday.
Kevin Boyer, 18, was knifed several times by unidentified thugs at East New York Avenue near Ralph Avenue at 9:55 p.m. Wednesday, cops said.
The group had gotten into a heated argument. Boyer was rushed to Brookdale Hospital, where he died.
QUEENS
* Cops are looking for information that might lead to the capture of a bank robber caught on tape.
The bandit (above) walked into a Citibank branch at 168-48 Hillside Avenue in Jamaica on July 27th and passed a note to the teller demanding cash.
The worker complied and the thief made off with the loot. (lcf)
* Two men were arrested in a hate-crime attack in Jackson Heights, authorities said yesterday.
Wrig Bista, 19, and Lal Ghalley, 19, accosted the 20-year-old man at the intersection of 76th Street and Broadway at 5 a.m. Tuesday, sources said.
The teens allegedly said they “did not want homos in their neighborhood” and slugged the man.
Police busted the suspects, who were charged with assault and aggravated harassment, said a spokeswoman for DA Richard Brown.
* A short-order cook was arrested for swiping $1,700 from a concession stand where he worked in Shea Stadium, authorities said yesterday.
Joshua Benson, 27, who worked for Aramark Food Service Company, put the loot in a black zipper bag while cleaning up the concession stand at about 8 p.m. on July 8, sources said.
Benson allegedly hid the bag of money in a freezer, and later retrieved it. Another employee saw this and shouted at Benson.
The suspect fled with the bag, but was arrested Tuesday on a grand-larceny charge.
MANHATTAN
* A Queens man was fatally stabbed early yesterday in a fight on an Upper West Side street, police said.
William Stroud, 22, of Beach 57th Street in Arverne, was knifed twice in the stomach at about 12:50 a.m. on West 63rd Street near West End Avenue in the Amsterdam Houses, police said.
Stroud was rushed to St. Luke’s Hospital, where he died.
Police said they had made arrests, but had yet to charge the suspects by late yesterday.
STATEN ISLAND
* A Mariners Harbor woman was arrested for attacking her 4-year-old son in their home over a five-day period, authorities said yesterday.
Between last Friday and Tuesday, Clairma Sylvain, 20, allegedly beat her child with a belt buckle in their Bush Avenue residence.
When the child went to a day-care center, staff noticed the injuries to the boy’s face, chest, arms, legs and buttocks.
He was rushed to a local hospital, where he allegedly told authorities his mother had attacked him.
Sylvain was charged with assault and endangering the welfare of a child, said a spokesman for DA Daniel Donovan.
* An ex-con was busted after cops found a 9 mm Beretta handgun in a closet in his Port Ivory home, authorities said yesterday.
Donald Porter, 50, was arrested following a police raid inside his Holland Avenue apartment near Richmond Terrace at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, law-enforcement sources said.
* A Port Richmond man was nabbed for driving into a fence and trying to flee, law-enforcement sources said yesterday.
Chris White, 24, allegedly crashed his car on Richmond Terrace near Treadwell Avenue at 6:42 p.m. Wednesday, authorities said. A police officer rushed over to check on White, who tried to run away, sources said.
White, who lives on Harrison Avenue about two blocks from the scene, fled because he has no license and was carrying a bag of crack, authorities said.
He was charged with resisting arrest, drug possession, leaving the scene of an accident and unlicensed driving, according to a DA spokesman.