Brooklyn
A crook who swiped thousands in cash in a gunpoint robbery at a Bushwick social club last month was busted this week after witnesses identified him, authorities said yesterday.
Deshawn Straw, 26, and an accomplice confronted the manager outside the club on Knickerbocker Avenue and Schaefer Street at 2:20 a.m. on April 23, cops said.
The pair allegedly drew guns and forced the manager inside, then swiped cash and cellphones from seven people playing poker and craps.
Straw was arrested Monday after three of the victims identified him in a lineup, sources said.
Manhattan
Cops flushed out a Harlem scammer who bought a toilet, toilet seat and other items with fraudulent credit cards, authorities said.
Chris Wingate, 40, allegedly purchased goods online from Home Depot last June 10 using phony credit cards he had opened with stolen identities.
The scam continued until one victim’s identifying information was spotted on a fraudulent credit application, cops said.
Officers went to Wingate’s apartment on West 144th Street near Frederick Douglass Boulevard Thursday, spotted the new toilet in the bathroom and arrested him, cops added.
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An acquaintance looted $258,000 from the retirement fund of a Hell’s Kitchen resident, authorities said.
On June 30, Christopher Lamarca, 42, allegedly fraudulently transferred to his own accounts money from the victim’s 401(k) plan.
The victim, who lives on West 43rd Street, was apparently unaware of the theft.
Lamarca was arrested Friday.
Queens
DNA forensics led to the arrest of a thief who broke into a car in Rego Park, authorities said.
Christopher Jeffries, 39, allegedly snatched a laptop computer and credit cards from the car parked on 62nd Avenue near 93rd Street at 6:30 p.m. on March 3.
Cops took to the crime lab a screwdriver and sunglasses left in the vehicle during the robbery.
A link was made to Jeffries, who was arrested on May 10 and charged with grand larceny and petit larceny, according to a spokesperson for DA Richard Brown.
Bronx
A would-be thief fled empty-handed after the victim put up a fight in Fordham Manor, authorities said.
“Can I have a quarter?” Rahim Shaffer, 36, allegedly asked a man on Jerome Avenue near East Fordham Road at 5:04 a.m. Sunday.
When the victim refused, Shaffer snarled, “Give me your wallet,” according to court papers.
The two got into a tussle and Shaffer fled. He was arrested Sunday.
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A man was arrested for breaking into the Tremont home of his ex-girlfriend and terrorizing her, authorities said.
Joel Diaz, 32, allegedly barged into the woman’s residence on East 173rd Street near Marmion Avenue at 12:50 p.m. on April 27, shook her violently, knocked off her glasses and demanded to see his children.
He returned at 11:50 a.m. Sunday and refused to leave her home, cops said. He was then busted.
Staten Island
A deranged driver tried to run over his father in Pleasant Plains, authorities said.
Joseph Terranova, 40, zoomed toward his dad at 9:50 p.m. on May 10 at Hallister Street near Outerbridge Avenue, according to court papers.
When the victim managed to jump out of the way, Terranova threw his car into reverse and sped back toward the man, cops said.
Terranova was arrested Monday and charged with reckless endangerment and assault, said a spokesman for DA Daniel Donovan.
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A thief stole jewelry from a woman’s Travis home and hocked it at a pawn shop, authorities said.
Justin Young, 23, allegedly took a wedding band and an engagement ring from a jewelry box above the fireplace in the victim’s Signs Road home at 2:45 p.m. Saturday, cops said.
He then allegedly sold the items at a Staten Island Mall jewelry store for $1,000.
“I saw an opportunity to take the rings to make some extra cash so I could buy drugs,” Young allegedly confessed, according to court papers.
He was arrested Sunday.