The Bronx
Two hammer-wielding thugs forced their way into a Norwood apartment and stole thousands of dollars in cash, authorities said. The crooks rang the doorbell at the apartment on East 213th Street near Dekalb Avenue at about 3:30 p.m. on April 24 and pushed their way inside when a 17-year-old boy answered, police said. The thieves bound the teen with duct tape and helped themselves to about $5,000, according to cops.The teen was not injured in the harrowing break-in. One of the suspects is believed to be in his mid- to-late 40s, 5-foot-8 and 200 pounds. His accomplice was last seen wearing a black coat over a red hoodie.
Brooklyn
Two gun-toting robbers already wanted for hold-ups in The Bronx and Manhattan have expanded their spree to Brooklyn, investigators said. On April 14 at 8:25 p.m., the duo knocked over Cohen’s Fashion Optical on Seventh Avenue near Sixth Street in Park Slope, grabbing $7,500 in cash and designer frames, authorities said. About 20 minutes later, the suspects stole $1,450 in a stick-up at the Windsor Wine Merchant liquor store on Prospect Park West near 16th Street, law-enforcement sources said. At 2:50 p.m. on April 24, the thieves tried their luck at the Mega Aid Pharmacy on Broadway near Willoughby Avenue in Bushwick, scoring $100 and an assortment of prescription pills, police said. Investigators have now tied the duo to seven armed robberies across three boroughs since April 4. The thieves have netted about $4,500 in cash, along with the glasses frames, pills and scratch-off lottery tickets, cops said.
Three thugs beat and robbed an inebriated Williamsburg resident zigzagging his way down the street, police sources said. The 23-year-old victim, who sources said was drunk, was stumbling along South Fourth Street near Union Avenue at about 3:30 a.m. Thursday when the goons hopped out of a gray sedan. They snatched $600 cash from the victim’s pocket and jumped back into their car, sources said. The tippler proceeded to make his way into the nearby 90th Precinct station house about 30 minutes later and report the robbery. A description of the suspects was not immediately available.
Manhattan
The two suspects pictured above stole the purse of a 92-year-old woman at an Upper West Side supermarket, according to cops. Police said the senior was shopping at Fairway on Broadway near West 74th Street at about 1:45 p.m. on April 22 when the duo targeted her. While the elderly victim was looking away, the creeps swiped the purse from her shopping cart and fled, said law-enforcement authorities. The purse contained the senior’s hearing aid, eyeglasses, credit cards and about $450 in cash. The female suspect is believed to be in her 20s and was last seen with her hair up and wearing a necklace. Her male accomplice, also thought to be in his 20s, was wearing a black ’do-rag and glasses.
An allegedly drunken driver blew through a tube of the Lincoln Tunnel that had been closed for repairs, then crashed through a security gate early Friday, officials said. Port Authority Police officers spotted Mario Saldana speeding toward the closed Manhattan-bound tube in Weehawken, NJ, at about 2:25 a.m. and signaled to him detour to an open tube, a PAPD spokesman said. Saldana, 34, allegedly breezed past the officers in a 2004 red GMC SUV and hurtled through the closed tube packed with maintenance workers, the spokesman said. On the Manhattan side, Saldana allegedly rammed his SUV through an exit gate, then sped toward the West Side Highway, authorities said. When pursuing PA cops found Saldana behind the wheel of the disabled SUV near West 57th Street, he allegedly admitted to drinking and asked if them if he had collided with someone or something, officials said. The Bronx resident was hit with a slew of charges, including DWI, leaving the scene of an accident and reckless driving.