Arrest made after selfie-stick seller chases burglars with bat
A Queens businessman who sells selfie sticks online grabbed a bat and turned into a crime-fighter when he spotted burglars swiping boxes of his inventory from his home over the weekend.
Andre Pertab, 42, said he heard a noise and looked outside around 1 a.m. Saturday when he saw a thief carrying boxes from his Richmond Hill garage and another loading them into a parked BMW X-5 SUV.
“I was in boxers and a T-shirt, and I grabbed my bat and took the cellphone with the police on it outside into the heavy rain,” said Pertab, who rushed to read the brown BMW’s license plate to a 911 operator.
Pertab said he quickly caught the attention of a third burglar, the getaway driver, who peeled off and left behind his two thieving pals.
“One came out with two boxes. When he saw me with the bat, he said, . . . ‘I’m sorry. I’m sorry,’ ” Pertab said.
The victim said he took a swing at the crook with his bat but missed as the man jumped into a neighbor’s parked car for protection.
By the time cops arrived, the two thieves were fleeing on foot, with Pertab chasing behind.
“I stopped and described the guys, but [police] couldn’t find them,” Pertab said.
Pertab roped his business partner into the search, having him use the license plate to hunt him down through Facebook and other social media.
Detectives eventually found the car’s owner, a man who said he had lent the car to his son. The dad immediately turned the kid over to the police, Pertab said.
“Hold on, my son’s right here,” said the father, who stood by as the young man admitted to acting as the driver in the caper, according to Pertab.
“He confessed immediately in front of his dad,” he said.
Police arrested at least one man so far in connection with theft. Vijay Ramcharitar, 23, was charged with burglary in the third degree, petit larceny and criminal possession of stolen property, court records show.
Pertab said he believes that the crooks cased his neighborhood since before he went to a trade show in Las Vegas on New Year’s Eve and had been making off with thousands of dollars of inventory while he was away, then continued their thieving antics Sunday morning.
Pertab said he was grateful to detectives for solving the crime quickly.
