Cops Say Thieves Struck Downtown Duane Reade 11 Times in November

The Duane Reade at 250 Broadway, corner of Park Place, was the target of numerous thefts in November. Photo: Carl Glassman/Tribeca Trib

Duane Reade stores are notorious targets for thieves, their shelves emptied of everything from condoms and cough medicine to hair growing tonic and huge quantities of ice cream.

But this month, one Downtown Duane Reade took more hits than most: 11 thefts during November alone, according to police.

Cops provided details on four of the thefts that occurred within just over a week, two of them resulting in arrests.

On Nov. 12, a shoplifter allegedly took nearly $3,500 worth of makeup and personal care products, with a special penchant for L’Oréal makeup (61 items worth $781). Maybelline, Revlon, Gillette and Kenneth Cole were just some of the other brands in the haul. According to police, an assistant store manager noticed items missing in the aisle. A check of surveillance video showed the same male suspect lifting goods from the shelves and stashing them inside two carrying bags and his shirt on two different forays through the store.

A gum-and-candy thief was arrested on Nov. 16 after allegedly taking 49 packs of Orbit gum, 18 Hershey bars and a pack each of M&Ms and Trident gum. While watching camera surveillance of the store, a cop witnessed Kevin Creary, 56, put the goods inside his shirt and pants, according to the District Attorney’s office.  Creary pled guilty to petit larceny and was sentenced to time served.

On Nov. 19, a 36-year-old man made off with diet pills ($464), testosterone enhancer ($158) and baby formula ($380). He also took two bottles of perfume ($120) and some socks ($11). Cops said the same suspect, Devin Petrucha, 39, an East Village resident, returned to the store two days later and was seen taking baby lotion and baby formula, 17 bottles of perfume, $120 worth of diet pills and four cans of Red Bull. He was arrested on James Street on petit larceny charges later that day. While processing him at the 1st Precinct, police say, detectives connected him to the Nov. 19 shoplifting spree and charged him a second time, this time for grand larceny. They say a syringe with heroin residue was found in a pants pocket. Petrucha, who had been arrested for stealing at an Upper East Side Duane Reade in July, according to dnainfo [1], pled guilty to petit larceny and was sentenced to 45 days in jail.

Police say that over a 28-day period the store was victim to nine petit larceny and two grand larceny incidents, but did not provide details on the other alleged thefts. A Duane Reade manager declined to respond to questions about the spate of crime at his store.