Allow me to set the mood:
DNAinfo warns that the NYPD “fears an influx of grifters” this summer after a similar crimewave last year where sexy thieves would target clubgoers with fancy watches, go to a private location, roofie them, and then run off with the jewels.
“New York is where the money is, and the working girls and guys do the circuit, and when it gets warm they come back here,” a source told DNAinfo’s Murray Weiss, who writes this article like a hard-boiled detective story. “They follow the money, and the Rolex is big.”
There were about two dozen such hustles reported last year, although police suspect the actual number is higher as many thefts go unreported, due to the victims being unwilling to disclose being “caught in compromising situations.”
Generally, the hustle works like this: a man is approached by two women in a club. He takes them back to his home or to a hotel. Once he’s asleep, either by natural or chemical means, they make off with his Rolex (always a Rolex, apparently), his credit cards, his computer, or whatever other valuables they can find.
Here’s a blockquote, because this source sounds like Edward G. Robinson, as if he should be adding “see?” to the end of every sentence:
“It does not matter if the victim is a polished guy looking for fast times, or just some well-heeled computer geek,” the source continued. “These criminals are like travelers, and grifters and professional working girls.
“They don’t hang around long to avoid being too familiar and easy for the police to find,” the source continued. “They chart certain events, and know when to come around, and I can assure you we are not talking about being in Washington for the Police National Convention.”
A Rolex was stolen from a parked car on the Upper West Side this weekend. That victim didn’t get grifted, but if he would leave a $60,000 watch in the center console of his car overnight, he’d probably be an easy mark.
Protect ya neck.
(Photo: Nicholas Putz)
