Police Blotter
Thefts at galleries
During an exhibit on the fourth floor of the Sarah Meltzer Gallery, 525 W. 26th St., Thursday evening, June 19, a man made his way down to the second floor office of the gallery and stole a laptop computer, a digital camera and a Swiss Army knife with a total value of $1,945, police said.
Three men visiting the David Zwirner Gallery, 525 W. 19th St. on Thursday afternoon, June 19, distracted an employee and managed to walk off with a laptop computer valued at $3,000, police said.
BB gun attacks
A man, 29, who was walking east on the north side of W. 17th St. between Ninth and 10th Aves. at 8 p.m. Sat., June 21, was shot in the lip with a BB gun, police said. He was treated at St. Vincent’s Hospital.
About 10 minutes later, a woman, 18, walking west at the same location was hit in the lower back by a BB shot. She refused medical attention. Police are investigating the incidents.
Pizza parlor punch-up
A man got into an argument with an employee of Stella’s Pizza, 110 Ninth Ave. near W. 17th St., punched the victim in the face at 4:45 a.m. Sun., June 22 and left, police said. But restaurant employees feared he would return and locked the door. The suspect did come back, picked up a brick from the street and hurled it through an open window, damaging a wall in the restaurant. He then reached through the open window, unlocked the door and chased the victim to the back of the restaurant, where he punched him again. Police arrived and arrested Reginald Merlin, 27, for assault, criminal mischief and after finding two bags of marijuana in his pocket, also charged him with possession of a controlled substance.
Credit card charges
A Chelsea woman discovered at 7 p.m. Sat., June 21 that her credit cards, which she had used earlier at a shop on Eighth Ave. and 23rd St., were missing. By the time she cancelled them, they had unauthorized charges made at 11 p.m. at a Skechers shoe shop in Times Sq. and the other at midnight on a cab fare, police said.
Guitar stolen
A Hawthorn, N.J. man, 24, parked his car on the southwest corner of Eighth Ave. at W. 17th St. at about 8 p.m. Sat., June 21 and returned five hours later to find the trunk had been forced open and his Fender Telecaster guitar and two pedal accessories, with a total value of $1,600, had been stolen, police said.
Steals GPS
A man who parked his truck at 338 W. 17th St. at 5 p.m. Sat., June 21 returned a few hours later and found the driver’s side window broken and the Garvin Global Positioning System stolen, police said. Five dollars in plain sight on the dashboard was not taken, the victim told police.
Bounced and beaten
A patron of Park, the club at 118 10th Ave., near W. 18th St., told police that a bouncer who stopped him from entering the club’s VIP area grabbed him by the throat, threw him to the floor and dragged him out to the sidewalk, where other bouncers punched and kicked him. The victim said that during the fracas he lost his ring, valued at $4,500, his wallet and a digital camera.
Police arrested Vikran Deshmukh, 25, after bouncers ejected him from Home, a club at 532 W. 27th St., for not paying his tab. He was smoking a marijuana joint, had two others in his pocket and was charged with possession of a controlled substance.
Bike stolen
A man, 31, who locked his bicycle to a rack on the northwest corner of Seventh Ave. at W. 24th St. at 5 p.m. Fri., June 20 returned an hour later to find it had been stolen, police said.
