Cops are searching for a burglar who used a crowbar to break into locked doors of various businesses in Fordham Heights –– and in some scenarios, to carve holes through walls he would then crawl through to gain entry, police said.
In the first incident on Dec. 17, the suspect used a crowbar to break a locked door in the back entrance of a grocery store on 122 East 181 St. just after midnight and stole $18,000 worth of lottery tickets, police said.
Then, just 10 days later, on Dec. 27 the suspect used a crowbar to break into a locked door in the back of Cohen’s Fashion Optical store on 2483 Grand Concourse around 7:30 p.m. –– managing to steal $4,000 worth of cash, according to police.
Surveillance video from this incident shows the thief holding a flashlight with his mouth while attempting to crack open a safe with the tool.
From the inside of Cohen’s Optical, the suspect managed to use the crowbar to excavate a hole in the wall and crawl through it to get into the neighboring store –– a Boost Mobile at 2479 Grand Concourse –– once inside, he got away with $100, police said.
An unidentified individual, using a crow bar, disabled the locked rear door, entered the store and removed $4,000 cash, before fleeing through the rear door.DCPIIn the fourth incident, the suspect broke into a Sprint cellphone store at 124 East Fordham Road on Jan. 13 just before 4 a.m. and used a crowbar –– again –– to carve a hole into the drywall of the store, crawl through, and steal $300 worth of tools and a laptop, police said.
In his most recent endeavor, the suspect broke into a grocery store at 269 East 188th St. on Jan. 15 around 3 a.m. –– and used a crowbar to break into a locked basement, police said.
He swiped $180 worth of beer and then fled, according to police.
