Mug shot of alleged subway snatcher Leroy Lawrence
Another month and another batch of statistics showing crime is down in the subway.
Crime is so low, that the arrest of a purse snatcher makes big news.
Of course, the alleged snatcher did have a novel way of committing his crime.
"He's standing between the cars and as the train is moving he reaches out and grabs a woman on the platform and takes her pocketbook," said NYPD Transit Bureau Chief James Hall. "Potentially it's very dangerous if (she) is dragged under the train."
He then allegedly made his subway getaway to the next station without breaking a sweat.
Hall said he believes [Leroy] Lawrence, 52, is responsible for three more subway robberies at the station during the past three months. Once a pattern emerged, detectives looked at the rap sheets of purse snatchers and made the connection to Lawrence, who was convicted for a similar crime at the same station in 1995, according to the Manhattan district attorney¹s office.
Arrests are up 27% this year compared to last year – and cops are specifically targeting bad guys who walk between the subway cars – a no-no since 2005.
UPDATE - NYPD Commisioner Ray Kelly spoke about the strategy today:
It’s effective policing. We know that, you know, people who commit crimes on the subway trains often walk through the entire train and that’s one of the reasons why we watch for that and we give summonses for it. And I think you saw in the paper today that some of the people that have been issued summonses for it have extensive records of crimes, particularly robbery, in the subway system. So it’s another effective tool in our toolbox and so far it’s working well.
-- Chuck Bennett
