POLICE BEAT

Cameras help find stolen SUV

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Often, cars are stolen and never seen again, or might be found a little bit battered and parked on the side of a street. Sometimes, though, you can find a stolen car and its would-be owner sitting in plain sight.

On Aug. 21, police were investigating a stolen gray 2018 Ford Explorer, and were able to track the location of the vehicle using cameras that had captured its license plates. According to their technology, the car had last been seen near Reservoir Avenue and Sedgwick Avenue, police said.

So officers set off to the scene — and found the car parked on the side of the road with a man inside. They asked if the car belonged to him, and he said no, police said.

The true owner of the car was called and confirmed that the Ford was, indeed, his stolen vehicle, and the thief was arrested on the spot.

 

The closing shift

It was a tough day for employees at the Rite Aid at 5825 Broadway. It was nearly midnight when a man walked in, grabbed an armful of items, and tried to walk past the registers without paying.

An employee tried to stop him, police said, and he allegedly fought back, eventually jumping over the counter and smashing the store’s computer and phone — creating more than $450 in damage.

He ran out of the store with nearly $200 worth of razors and Febreze products, but he didn’t get far.

Police caught up with him on West 238th Street, where they reportedly discovered he also had a knife in his pocket.

Ultimately, the man was charged with robbery and possession of the knife.

 

A quiet street isn’t always a safe street

A blue Honda CR-V was parked on the corner of Independence Avenue and West 238th Street on Aug. 28. Normally not a story in itself, but two days later, it was gone.

Officers responded to the scene and searched the area, but didn’t find any trace of the car, they say was worth about $30,000.

There were no cameras in the area to catch the thief, and no live witnesses either. Yet, detectives are investigating.

 

Off-road car gets driven down road

Parking in a garage is pricey, but parking on the street can end up being a lot more expensive.

That’s because sometimes when you come back to your car, it’s not yours anymore — and you don’t even know where it is.

Just talk to the owner of a 2018 Jeep Cherokee that had been parked on the 5400 block of Broadway since the evening of Aug. 30.

The next afternoon, the car was gone, and there wasn’t even any broken glass on the street to indicate how it had been stolen.

Police searched the area, but didn’t find any evidence in the theft, and couldn’t find any camera footage of the car being driven off. Yet they are continuing to investigate.

Police Beat, 50th Precinct, Kirstyn Brendlen