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This Week in Stupid Crime

By Mike Hudson

Cigarette heist on Pine Ave.

Most people just go out to Smokin Joe’s, but three men had a different idea about how to feed their nicotine habits last week.

A truck driver for McLane Northeast Grocery supply made a delivery at 12th and Pine, locked up his truck and went inside the store to have the manager sign off on the paperwork. When he emerged for the store, he saw a black man standing at the rear of the truck, acting all suspicious.

The driver yelled at the guy, who broke into a run. Two other black men who the driver hadn’t noticed also began running, following the suspicious guy down the alley.

When the driver checked his truck, he discovered that one of the heavy Master padlocks he’d used to secure the rear doors was missing. Marks on the door indicated it had been cut by someone using a grinder.

When he checked, the driver found that $1,800 worth of cigarettes, cartons of Newport’s and Parliaments, were missing.

Cops responded to the scene and wrote a report. It was just another sunny afternoon on Pine Avenue.

***

Good hygiene, bad karma

Kristi Ciccarelli, 35, of 552 16th St., likes feeling fresh. So one day last week she went to the Wal-Mart Superstore on Military Road and picked out some flea medication, deodorant, shampoo, air freshener and a scented candle.

Problems developed when she stuffed the items into her rather large purse and attempted to leave the store without paying for them. Total value of the stolen goods was $35.72.

She was nabbed by a Wal-Mart loss prevention specialist, who called the cops. Ciccarelli was arrested, charged with petit larceny and issued an appearance ticket.

She went home, her flea and odor problems unaddressed.

***

Grudge match on 70th Street

A neighborhood grudge was apparently the motivator that led a dozen youths armed with baseball bats to smash an apartment door and pretty much demolish a parked car on 70th Street at 3 o’clock one morning last week.

Police said the gang entered the apartment building and began beating on the door of one of the units. They then went out to the parking lot and used their bats to smash up a parked Hyundai owned by the guy whose apartment they had visited.

They made so much racket that everyone in the building woke up, saw what was going on and called the cops.

Five juveniles were apprehended fleeing the scene but witnesses could identify only one, because he was wearing a distinctive black and white checkered hoodie. The youthful offender lacked the street smarts to know that, when committing a crime, you want to blend in as much as possible.

The kid was booked, and the victim told cops his family had been having trouble with him and his friends for some time.

***

It’s a sin

A woman was going into her church in the 2400 block of Niagara Street last week when an unknown male ran up behind her and attempted to snatch her purse. A struggle ensued, and both the woman and the robber fell to the ground.

The woman injured her head, and the robber made off with the purse, which contained $53 in cash, various credit and debit cards and her New York State pistol permit.

We’re sure the woman probably wishes she had the pistol on her at the time, but hindsight is always 20/20.

***

She’s no angel

A man walked into the police station one day last week and told cops that a woman he knows only as Angel stopped by his Niagara Avenue house with another woman he didn’t know to hang out for awhile.

Nothing wrong with that, of course, but after the women left, the guy noticed his car keys were missing.

He went out to see if he could catch up with the girls, thinking they might have picked the keys up accidentally, but, when he got outside, he saw them driving away in his car.

Police made a report and advised the victim to try and find out the female’s names if he could.

***

Another lesson learned

You know what happens when you leave your wallet containing $1,600 on the front seat of your unlocked Ford F-150 pickup truck after you park it in front of 1717 Pine Avenue?

That’s right, somebody steals it.

This actually happened to a guy last week. He told cops he had that much on him because he went to look at a vehicle with the thought of buying it but decided against it.

He didn’t tell cops why he left his wallet on the front seat of his unlocked truck but, really, could there be any good reason?

Police say the theft might have been recorded on a nearby video surveillance camera. An investigation is continuing.

 

 

Niagara Falls Reporter - Publisher Frank Parlato Jr. www.niagarafallsreporter.com

Nov 19, 2013