POLICE BEAT

Finding creative ways to get inside

Posted

A man living on the 5400 block of Valles Avenue called police the morning of Oct. 3 to report he returned home to find himself a little poorer than he’d been three hours earlier.

The 51-year-old told police he found the window closest to the fire escape open, and avoided the front door since the security chain was still in place.

It seems that an agile person snuck in through the window, police said, helping himself to an iPad and $500 in cash.

Achievement unlocked: Scam

This bad guy’s got good game. Too bad he cheated to win.

A 37-year-old woman who works from her home on the 5600 block of Riverdale Avenue reported to police Oct. 2 she got an email from someone claiming to be her company’s president, demanding her phone number.

She provided it and soon began receiving texts saying she needed to hand over gift cards, according to police reports. She bought 20 PlayStation and 20 Xbox gift cards — a total of $2,500 — and sent the alleged boss man the redemption code.

The woman began suspecting she’d not been communicating with a company president when she was asked to send another $2,500 in gift cards, and called police.

Eenie, meenie, miny, no

Just before 2 a.m., on Oct. 5, police spotted what they described as a shifty character fiddling with door handles on vehicles parked around the southeast corner of West 252nd Street and Broadway. They stopped to chat with the fellow.

Not too far away, cops found a vehicle with its front passenger side door ajar, according to a report. Officers arrested and charged the suspect with criminal tampering.

Police Beat, Heather J. Smith