When you're robbing apartments on the Upper East Side and the lady of the house catches you in the act, the last thing you expect is for her to play the hero and overpower you. But that was the embarrassing result of ex-con Clarence Cooper's alleged break-in at the East 78th Street apartment of Christine Anderson, a 46-year-old sales manager. When Anderson returned from grocery shopping at 8:50 a.m. Sunday morning to find Cooper rummaging......

It seems to be a bank robbery boom time, but could robbers be targeting another ubiquitous and friendly retail operation? WNBC reports that two Starbucks locations in Manhattan were robbed in the past few weeks. The first robbery was at Broadway and West 98h Street on August 29 at 5:30 a.m., while the second was on Third Avenue at 41st around 8 p.m. this past Sunday. "In both cases, the men walked in, pulled out......

The police released photographs of three men suspected of impersonating police officers during robberies in Brooklyn. According to WABC 7, "Detectives say the men walked into a building on McDonald Avenue, pulled out guns, and displayed police badges." They also handcuffed their victims before robbing them. Their images were captured on a surveillance camera and the suspects are described as "white males in their 30s." Police are asking for people with any information to call......

A camera and a YouTube account are the new badge! This group of Brooklynites filmed the aftermath of an attempted robbery (allegedly the robber had a razor, which can be seen on the ground in the video). The scene includes a group holding a man on the street until the cops come to arrest him. Language and threats aside, no one gets violent...until another bystander comes over and kicks the would-be robber. Take a look:......

Late last night, livery cab driver Winston Frank was killed in a hit-and-run that police believe was preceded by a robbery. Frank, apparently an unlicensed driver, had picked up a fare in Ozone Park. While driving, police think he argued with female passenger in the front seat--and the woman pushed him out of the car. Halfway out of the car by his seat belt, Frank was then struck by a passing car; a witness told......

Last November, an underground poker club in the Flatiron district was robbed, and one of the masked gunmen "accidentally" fired his pistol and fatally shot a man. Yesterday, the Manhattan DA's office charged the robbery's alleged mastermind, saying Bronx resident William Delvalle "really took charge of the entire robbery." According to the NY Times, prosecutors claim Delvalle yelled to one of his partners, "Get me a victim." Though prosecutors say Delvalle's face is visible on......

Queens firefighter Ricardo Louis has been suspended by the FDNY without pay after being arrested yesterday for assault and attempted robbery. Louis was allegedly recruited by a gang that specialized in home burglaries and knew he was hard up for cash. His first job involved pistol-whipping a Queens businessman in the driveway of his home after gang members awaited the man's return from work. The gang fled before taking anything when the man yelled for......

The Queens DA announced that two American Airlines baggage handlers at JFK Airport were charged with stealing $280,000 of jewelry from a suitcase checked in and bound for Los Angeles. Apparently Albert Acevedo and Angelo Riviello had a code to let each other know about certain bags; in this instance, Riviello said, "Wow, that’s heavy," and Acevedo, baggage crew head, came over and opened the bag. Acevedo took some of the suitcase's envelopes and later......

The retired detective accused of being the "Bling Bandit" is awaiting a psychiatric evaluation, but Athelson Kelson's mother seems to confirm the "suicide-by-cop" hypothesis. Referring to her son's terminal liver cancer, she told the Daily News, "He just didn't want to live like that. He just wanted to die." Kelson allegedly held up banks in Queens and on Long Island, while making no attempt to disguise himself or to wear gloves--and wearing flashy jewelry, including......

Authorities have questioned a retired and respected NYPD detective of holding up banks in Queens and on Long Island. The suspect was dubbed the "Bling Bandit" by Newsday after surveillance footage showed "he repeatedly flashed an abundance of gold jewelry on both hands. " Athelson Kelson, a Vietnam veteran who worked on the Joint Terrorism task force, reportedly surrendered at a Queens precinct house last night, and Daily News sources say it seemed like he......

A gambling den was held up by three men who posed as cops: WNBC has footage of "men armed with guns and radios rounding up unsuspecting patrons in the Midwood home, lining some against a wall and searching their pockets for cash." The gambling parlor was illegal, but apparently customers have agreed to file complaints. Police have not made any arrests; the suspects are reportedly "male whites in their 30's." Last year, a group of......

Early yesterday morning, an 18-year-old woman was attacked in the Richmond Hill section of Queens. WABC 7 reports the woman had been walking down a street when an man wielding a gun "took her to the back of a building where she was robbed and sexually assaulted." According to the Daily News, the victim ran back home and "hysterically pointed out her attacker to [her boyfriend] and his friends." The group tried to chase the......

Cornelius Abson, who admitted to choking and robbing an 85-year-old woman as well as robbing other victims, appeared in court last Friday. However, his arraignment was postponed because his lawyer requested a psychological exam. Lawyer Eric Bannister said, "It's my belief that my client is suffering serious mental health issues," and noted the bruises and bump on his client's head, "I believe my client has a legitimate fear for his safety." Abson, who claimed his......

After being chocked into unconsciousness and robbed, we can't blame 85-year-old Lillian France for being pissed at the guy who attacked her. Cornelius Abson, who was caught on tape preying upon France in a Crown Heights elevator and arrested yesterday, confessed to police and apologized to France in a written letter, blaming it on his crack addiction. But France said, "How can he be sorry when I was the, I understand, the 12th victim?" Police......

The police have arrested a suspect in the brutal attack and robbery of an 85-year-old woman in a Crown Heights elevator last week. According to the Daily News, Cornelius Abson "confessed and then apologized for choking and robbing Lillian France." But a police source adds, "He's sorry he got caught. He wasn't sorry when he was choking the lady." It's suspected that Abson followed France from her bank on Eastern Parkway to the apartment......

After the disturbing footage showing an 85-year-old woman who was followed into an apartment building, choked to unconsciousness in the elevator, and then robbed of her money AND cane, the NYPD is now, per Newsday, "focusing in large part on the area around Flatbush, near Prospect Park." Police suspect the same person is behind that attack as well as 11 others (the other victims are 11 women and one man); they were robbed of money......

Thieves eying electronics in cars better think twice: WNBC reports that the police arrested three men who broke into a "bait car"--a vehicle that had a laptop, GPS, and cell phone. Apparently the men, who were charged with grand larceny, criminal mischief and auto stripping, used a rock to break into the car. The Bronx DA's office says the sting was on Southern Boulevard (near Fordham and the NY Botanical Garden), where many break-ins have......

Police are looking for a man who robbed an 85-year-old in a brutal attack. The attack took place in a Crown Heights apartment building's elevator--the victim Lillian France was headed up to visit a relative and about to get out at the 5th floor when a man grabbed her, put her in a chokehold until she lost consciousness, and robbed her of $900--and her cane. Here's the disturbing video: Police believe this could be......

Wow: When a man tried to rob 86-year-old Elizabeth Maropoulos in Hell's Kitchen on Sunday morning, she told the Post, "Once I realized he was coming after me, I went kick, kick!" Still, she was knocked down and robbed of $100. Luckily the thief, Earl Wearing, was caught--Maropoulos proclaimed him a "bad, bad boy. He's a bastard." And a bartender at the Blarney Stone, where Maropoulos is apparently a regular, said she's a tough lady,......

Two bodega owners in Bay Ridge fought off a robbery earlier this week by taking justice into their own hands...with machetes. The Post reports that when three thieves tried to rob the S & J Meat Market Monday of $2,000 in cigarettes, brothers and co-owners Mohammed and Sammy Othman confronted them with foot-and-a-half-long machetes. "My knife's bigger than yours!" Sammy yelled at one of the robbers who had pulled a four-inch blade. After containing two......

Police say a woman stole a purse belonging to her son's first grade teacher while at the school for his graduation! The Staten Island Advance reports that 43-year-old Traci Holmes "slipped into her son's empty classroom at PS 52 in Dongan Hills sometime during the May 29 ceremony and swiped his teacher's Louis Vuitton handbag." Holmes allegedly made over $300 in purchases with the teacher's credit card and tried to make more, but the card......

Police believe the same suspect is behind seven muggings that have taken place on the Upper West Side/ Morningside Heights since April. According to the Post, he "first punches his victim in the face, then demands cash and valuables." The attacks have been on six woman and one man, many concentrated around West 92nd Street--at Columbus and West 92nd Street, West End and West 92nd, on West 92nd off West End, West 81st and......

Six teenagers, ranging in age from 14 to 18 years old, were arrested yesterday for mugging, attacking, attempting to carjack, and overall menacing in Nassau County. And the police say they were inspired by Grand Theft Auto IV. ...

First iron gates, now bathtubs--scrap iron must be very valuable. Two men were caught stealing a designer bathtub from a Merrick, Long Island home under renovation. The tub, a Kohler cast-iron style weighing 300 pounds, was being taken out the front door by the robbers when police spotted them.......

Cecille Villacorta, an ex-Saks employee, is on trial today for charges that she stole over $1 million from the Manhattan flagship store, money that actually went into her customers pockets. Sort of like a modern day Robin Hood except she was stealing from the rich and giving to the rich. Her big commissions and bonuses came from striking a deal with about 230 customers and selling over $27 million in jewelry; upon purchasing the jewels......

The two women who are accused of stealing from open houses are looking for deals from the prosecutors. Previously, one of their lawyers had said they would be pleading not guilty, but half of the "Thelma & Louise" pair (they would both go to open houses, and one would distract the agent while the other stole items) Jennifer Jones is "going to plead guilty to a felony and misdemeanor in a no-jail deal," per the......

According to the Post, a robber has used an age-old tool for a new cause: Chiseling his way to rob apartments. Scott Morello, who was convicted of manslaughter in 1989, is accused of "chiseling through hallway walls and doors" into Manhattan homes. In fact, a police report from an incident at a Lexington Avenue building states a woman "looked through a peephole ...and saw a man cutting a hole in her door." Morella also allegedly......

While the man who suspected of stealing women's purses during the morning subway commute has been caught, it turns out there's another fiend with a similar penchant. The Post says a "well-dressed, well-coiffed daytime purse-snatcher has been targeting unsuspecting women as they lunch at Midtown tourist spots." The thief, who seems to be 35-45 years old and between 5'11" and 6'1" with brown hair, is connected to eight robberies in recent weeks, looking for chairs......

Cops made quick work of the case of the murder of a livery cab driver, who was allegedly killed by two teens who have now been arrested. Early yesterday morning, police were searching for suspects after a fight broke out inside a livery cab that left its driver dead with multiple stab wounds to his chest and abdomen. After being stabbed, Geraldo Guttierez tried to make it to a hospital, but was too badly injured.Mortally......

Police arrested a man with a criminal history in the Wednesday night robbery-murder of a Staten Island liquor store owner. Though 67-year-old Elgudzha Koyenishvili tried to defend himself with a baseball bat, John Lanorth had a gun and shot him at least twice before taking the cash reigster and fleeing the scene. Witnesses had described the suspect as a white man, 5'7", wearing jeans and a blue hooded sweatshirt, and one took down the killer's......