76TH PRECINCT
CARROLL GARDENS-COBBLE HILL–
RED HOOK
Bench bandit
A burglar stole a woman’s wallet
on Dwight Street on Aug. 31.
The victim told police that she
forgot her wallet on a bench outside
her home at 4 pm, but when she
went to look for it an hour later, it
was gone.
Bike burglary
A thief stole a $500 bike from the
yard in front of a Conover Street
house sometime between Aug. 26
and Aug. 29.
The victim told police that the
burglar rode off on his $500 bike
from his front yard.
Package pirate
A pilferer nabbed a package containing
a $60 hoodie from a Bond
Street building on Aug. 27.
The victim told police that the
thief nabbed the package from the
vestibule of the apartment building
between President and Carroll
streets at 5 pm.
— Rose Adams
88TH PRECINCT
FORT GREENE-CLINTON HILL
Triple shooting
A gunman shot three youngsters
on Myrtle Avenue on Aug. 30.
The victims, who were aged 16,
17, and 20 told police that the evildoer
shot at them between Washington
Park and Carlton Avenue at 1:35
am, hitting them in the arms, buttocks,
and legs.
Paramedics rushed the victims
to Methodist Hospital for treatment,
according to police reports.
Knifed!
Some villain slashed a man on
Tillary Street on Aug. 24.
The victim told police that the
reprobate stabbed him near Prince
Street shortly before 5 pm.
What a jerk!
A lowlife violently mugged a
woman Lafayette Avenue on Aug.
29.
The victim told police that the
goon took cash, black dresses, and
some CDs from her at Ashland Place
around 12:30 am while dragging her
by the arm and hurting her legs.
Wheels and a mask
A masked bandit on a bike
snatched a woman’s phone at Hanson
Place on Aug. 29.
The victim told police that the
pedaling perp forced her phone
from her hand between Fort Greene
and S. Elliott places at 9:20 am before
COURIER L 8 IFE, SEPT. 4–10, 2020
Gunman shoots church caretaker
inside Bed-Stuy house of worship
A police offi cer consoles a woman mourning outside of Glorious Church of God in
Christ after church caretaker Edward James was fatally shot. Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
fl eeing toward Lafayette Avenue
undetected.
Fake cop scammers
Three fraudsters scammed a
woman out of almost $6,000 over the
phone at Emerson Place on Aug. 28.
The victim told police the shysters
called her saying they were
agents for ICE and the NYPD and
that her immigration card had expired
at 7:30 am, before demanding
money via Target gift cards and via
wire transfer.
84TH PRECINCT
BROOKLYN HEIGHTS–DUMBO–
BOERUM HILL–DOWNTOWN
Cut short
Cops arrested an alleged robber
for stealing a phone at knifepoint at
Cadman Plaza E. on Aug. 30.
The victim told police that the
perp allegedly said “Give me your
phone so you don’t get stabbed”
near Tillary Street at 5:45 pm, before
grabbing the ill-gotten goods
and running off.
Police caught the suspect at the
scene at 6:35 pm, but didn’t fi nd a
knife on him, according to police.
Artisan raider
A looter ransacked a Jay Street
sculptor’s studio on Aug. 27.
The victim told police that the
purloiner got into her atelier between
Plymouth and John streets
at 1:30 pm through a partially-unlocked
door and snatched her laptop,
phone, and credit cards.
That sucks!
A nogoodnik nabbed a pair of vacuum
cleaners from a Target store on
Albee Square W on Aug. 24.
Employees told police that the
shoplifter fl ed the store at Fulton
Street at 6:30 pm with two vacuum
cleaners.
Wheely bad!
A bike bandit snatched a road
bike on Atlantic Avenue on Aug. 25.
The victim told police that the
thief cut the lock on her $1,800 twowheeler
near Hoyt Street at 5:30 pm
and pedaled away.
Auto-goon
Some freebooters broke into a
man’s car at MetroTech Center on
Aug. 29.
The victim told cops that the
rogue busted his window between
Gold and Duffi eld streets at 1 pm
and stole a safety deposit box and
several identifi cation cards.
Midnight marauder
A carjacker stole a woman’s vehicle
on Duffi eld Street on Aug. 22.
The victim told police that she
parked her car between Willoughby
and Fulton streets at midnight, but
when she came back it was gone.
— Kevin Duggan
60TH PRECINCT
CONEY ISLAND—BRIGHTON BEACH—
SEAGATE
Not lovin’ it
A crook took a kid’s McDonald’s
meal from a W. Sixth Street eatery
on Aug. 29.
The victim told police that the
punk threatened to stab him near
the intersection of Neptune Avenue
at around 1 am, before taking his
food and cash.
Shooter
A gunman shot a man at a W.
23rd Street public housing complex
on Aug. 23.
The victim told police that the
shooter pulled the trigger inside the
buildings between Mermaid and
Surf Avenues at around 2 am.
— Jessica Parks
BY TODD MAISEL
A gunman fatally shot a beloved
church caretaker in Bedford
Stuyvesant on Monday afternoon,
devastating locals who remembered
62-year-old Edward James as
a staple of the neighborhood.
“He was an icon of the church,”
said 72-year-old Ronald Stewart, a
deacon at Glorious Church of God
in Christ. “He was a good man, he
never looked for any trouble.”
The shooter chased James into
the house of worship on Halsey
Street just after 5 pm and opened
fi re, hitting him once in the back —
before fl eeing the scene undetected.
Paramedics rushed the victim
to Kings County Hospital, where
doctors pronounced him dead on
arrival. Police have not made any
arrests in the case, and the search
for the shooter remains ongoing.
Neighbors hailed James — who
started working as the groundskeeper
for the church 20 years ago
while he was homeless, and whom
church-goers called “Swayne”
— for working as a local handyman
and assisting the elderly, and
pleaded for the recent uptick in gun
violence to stop.
“He didn’t deserve this,” said
Deacon Ronald Porter. “America
needs less division and more love
right now…Bed-Stuy needs to put
the guns down. There is more to life
than stealing another life.”
The death comes as the city grapples
withan uptick in gun violence
since June, with 955 shootings citywide
since the start of the year.