Police Beat

Friendly chat turns into bloody robbery

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A man was robbed last week, police said, after he struck up a conversation with two strangers walking down Albany Crescent. 

The 42-year-old told police he was strolling home past the 3100 block of Albany Crescent Aug. 2 when the two men he was sharing the conversation with suddenly attacked him. 

The walking companions punched the victim several times in the face, according to police, leaving him with several cuts and bruises. 

The alleged assailants then took his canvas and leather bag before running away. 

Detectives are still looking into what happened.

Vannie lover loses phone in robbery

Another man was sucker punched and robbed last week, police said, while visiting Van Cortlandt Park. 

The victim, 46, told cops he was walking through Vannie Aug. 4 when a person he couldn’t describe came up behind him, punched him in the face, and took his iPhone 7 from his hand. 

The man told police he didn’t see which way his assailant ran, but was able to walk to the precinct to make a report.

Japanese restaurant burglarized

Someone broke into Tokyo Restaurant, 5648 Riverdale Ave., last week, according to police, making off with $2,500. 

The restaurant’s owner came to work Saturday morning to find the back door open. As he looked around, police said, he found someone had opened the register and taken the cash. 

The owner told police the register key was locked inside the machine, and seeing no signs of damage, did not think anyone had got inside. But he found out he was wrong.

Police won’t say much more beyond that since this investigation is ongoing. 

Gucci bag, laptop stolen from Acura

A man’s car was broken into July 25 on the 3200 block of Kingsbridge Ave. 

The victim, 46, told police he had simply parked his 2007 white Acura RDX, returning to find one of the doors open. He said there was an extra car key in the glove compartment, but he did not give anyone permission to get in his car or take anything out.

And quite a bit was taken out. According to police, items stolen included a Gucci bag valued at $1,600, an iPhone valued at $1,100, and an HP laptop valued at $300. But the thief didn’t stop there — he even stole the extra car key, which police said was valued at $300. 

In total, the victim was out more than $3,000. He claimed there was a camera on one of the buildings facing the parking spot, but police have yet to find any useful footage. They are, however, still investigating.

Alexandra Hutzler contributed to this report.