May 18, 2017 By Jason Cohen
There has been a modest uptick in the number vehicles reported stolen in the 112th Precinct in the past month.
Deputy Inspector Robert Ramos, the commanding officer for the precinct, said that during the 28-day period ending May 15 five vehicles were reported stolen, compared to just two for the same 28-day period a year ago.
Ramos said the thieves have been targeting vehicles parked in residential areas usually around midnight. He said that the perpetrators have been taking cars that were left unlocked.
“Five is still a very low number,” Ramos said. “We just had a phenomenal year last year in terms of [cars] getting broken into. Every now and then you sort of see an increase or spike in stolen cars, it’s just the nature of the business.”
Crime throughout the precinct, which covers Forest Hills and Rego Park, remains low. For the year through May 7, the number of major indexed crimes has drop 4.65 percent compared to the same period in 2016.
For instance, there have been no murders this year and the number of reported robberies are down, 22 vs. 14, and burglaries are down from 31 to 18.
Ramos did warn the community about the danger of Craigslist ads and scams.
He said that an individual recently got a job on Craigslist and was, strangely, sent a check by the prospective employer. The “employer” then asked for the money back. The original check was fake and the victim was scammed.
In a different scam, Ramos said seniors were being targeted on the street. A man and a woman, who have since been caught, were pulling up to seniors pretending they needed directions, while taking jewelry off their hands while they were distracted.
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