Heavy metal

Cops arrested a thug who hit a stranger with a metal bat on July 20 near Pacific and Smith streets in Boerum Hill.

The victim, a 30-year-old Queens woman, was walking on the sidewalk around 12:30 pm when suddenly the 53-year-old man ran up behind her, swung the bat, and hit her wrist and forearm.

Cops said they aren’t sure yet why the thug beat up the woman.

Boerum burglars

Burglars broke into at least three Boerum Hill apartments this week, and cops made an arrest in one case. Cops are still investigating whether the perp was responsible for the crime spree. Here’s a round-up:

• Cops arrested a 27-year-old man on July 19 for breaking into a Pacific Street apartment the day before and stealing nearly $5,000 in loot, cops said. The victim, who is 33, had returned to her apartment, which is between Nevins Street and Third Avenue, at 5 pm to find her front door lock broken and both her front and rear windows wide open. She then noticed that the burglar stole $3,000 and various electronics.

• A perp broke into a penthouse apartment on Dean Street in Boerum Hill on July 17. The 41-year-old woman who lives there was not home, but received a call from the alarm company at 7 pm. When she rushed to the apartment, which is between Third and Fourth avenues, she found her door forced open and slightly broken. The burglar had ruffled through her things, but didn’t take anything.

• A burglar tried to sneak into a basement on Bergen Street in Boerum Hill on July 15, but a resident caught him before he could come all the way in. A 76-year-old woman was talking on her phone in the building’s basement, which is between Bond and Hoyt streets, when she saw the perp removing a window screen and trying to sneak in. When the two made eye contact around 4:30 pm, the perp jumped back and fled north on Bond Street.

Hot rider

A thug hotwired a new Suzuki motorcycle on Dean Street on July 13.

The bike’s rightful owner, who lives between Nevins and Bond streets in Boerum Hill, found the perfect spot in front of his apartment earlier in the day, only to find his rice-burner gone around 8 pm that evening.

Wrecked!

It was not the 23-year-old man’s finest hour.

A drunk driver punched a cop on July 16 after the driver, whose headlights and front window were broken, refused to pull over from Atlantic Avenue to Bond Street around 3:30 am. Instead, the perp veered into oncoming traffic, parked on Fifth Avenue, jumped out of the car and started running away.

When cops caught up, the perp said, “I stole the car” and then kicked one cop, breaking the cop’s left big toe. At that point, the cop noticed “a strong odor of alcohol” on the perp’s breath. Cops later discovered the man didn’t actually steal the car, but he was certainly drunk: his blood alcohol level was 0.182. The legal limit in New York is 0.08.

— Sarah Portlock

©2008 The Brooklyn Paper