recent mugging incidents in park slope

abs276 wrote: Here's an update from the woman who was mugged, as posted in Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn's blog.

This just in from a woman who was mugged on Sunday night. The good news is that one of the muggers was caught on Sunday night in the Park. I want to say THANKS to the woman who took the time to write this post as a way to warn women in the neighborhood. She's been through a lot and still feels violated, frightened and vulnerable. THANK YOU.

I was mugged on my way home Sunday night at around 10:30. From what I’ve heard from neighbors, this has been going on for the past week or so.

I had passed these two kids when I was walking home from the 2 subway at Grand Army Plaza . They must have doubled back, and followed me – I saw them on the other side of the street about 20 feet behind me, but since there were plenty of people around, I felt ok, but very cautious. I turned down my block, and when I turned around, saw that they were following me. All I could think of was I needed to get to my door as soon as possible. I took my keys and my cell phone out of my bag. They came up on my stoop, I heard them and turned around, and then they backed me up against my door, pulled on my coat, telling me to give them the bag.

All I could think of was that they were going to drag me somewhere. The smaller of the two grabbed my bag, and they both ran into the park. I started screaming for people to help me, my downstairs neighbor and one of my other neighbors ran into the park after them, and a bunch of other people came out. My roommate and this other woman called the cops. I really appreciate all my neighbors and what they did for me. The cops came right away, asked me to get in the car, and we were going to drive into the park to see if I could identify them if found.

They ended up catching one of the kids in the park, but the other one got away. They had also dumped my bag and all its contents on a playground. He took my debit and credit card, my leather gloves, and my camera.

Although they didn't hurt me, I still feel violated. Although they got one of them, I'm still scared.

I have had the satisfaction of identifying one of them. The cops had him in handcuffs near the playground, and asked me if that was one of them, I looked at his face, and immediately knew it was him. He denied it, of course, but the cop told me that when they got him, he had obviously been running, he was pretty winded. It was pretty satisfying knowing that I could identify him, say, "yes, that's one of them" and that hopefully he'll be put away.

He was the one that had me against my door and was in my face, but I don't know if I could recognize the other one. I read up last night on sentencing for this type of crime (I couldn't sleep), and since the kid has priors, he could actually go to jail for anywhere between 2 and 25 years depending on what classification felony it is.

The ADA called me Monday morning, and told me that the kid had given up his buddy, and the cops were now out looking for him so that they could arrest him. He also told me that since they took my credit cards, it's a felony. I have to go to the grand jury on Friday. Detectives stopped by last night, and I’ll have to go to a line-up sometime this week to identify the other one, if I can.

Hopefully, these two are the ones who have been mugging other woman in the neighborhood and that there aren’t more of them out there. If this has happened to you recently, you should call the officer on your case, and tell them that you heard that someone had been arrested for a similar crime.

raw wrote: I've read people complain about New York cops on Brooklynian.com, but the few times I needed cops in crime situations they helped me. Once they even caught the criminal and put him in jail.

If anyone is mugged and lives to talk about it, they should file a police report to help prevent others from being victims.

benzapp wrote: Vote Republican so we can finally carry guns without bribing public officials or being well connected.

mr. met wrote: not according to the data...

mr. met wrote: i do know that, if a family keeps a gun in their home, they are more likely to do themselves harm than hurt an intruder. i don't have data handy, but i think this is a well-known fact.

New York Times wrote: Instead of increasing protection, a handgun in a home almost triples the chances that someone will be killed there, a study of homicides in three metropolitan areas has found.

friendlypitbull wrote: I tried to post this @ OTBKB but it wont post -

while it is great that the women mugged Sunday night helped the police catch one of the perpetrators, she is seriously risking the case by sending her accounts (i.e. written statements) to bloggers who are now posting them. Her detailed description of the crime and especially the identification of the (now) defendant may be used against her if this case should find its way to trial.

If the women is reading this or someone who knows her is reading this - IMMEDIALTLY provide these written accounts to the ADA so that he/she is prepared to address them and PLEASE stop writing these accounts while the criminal process is ongoing.

benzapp wrote: Vote Republican so we can finally carry guns without bribing public officials or being well connected.

It is a supreme hypocrisy that the only people who get carry permits besides a few security guards are diamond merchants, liberal media types, and democratic politicians.

There is no reason why there should be street crime. In a free country, a well armed populace deters all such crime.