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Police warn: Ladies who lunch in the Back Bay need to keep their purses close
By adamg on Tue, 01/13/2015 - 12:36pm
UPDATE: Photos released of woman who might have used some of the credit cards in the stolen wallets.
Boston Police think they're closing in on a woman they say has been lifting wallets out of purses in Newbury Street and Boylston Street restaurants for the past year.
Det. Daniel MacDonald told the Boston Licensing Board said the woman goes into a restaurant at lunchtime, looks around for pocketbooks left on tables or slung on the backs of chairs, then quickly lifts a wallet and flees.
"It's widespread," he said.
It's gotten so bad that Stephanie's on Newbury has installed "purse hooks" under its bar counter so that female patrons can hang their purses there instead of on their chair backs. In warmer months, managers who spotted women with purses on their chairs on the patio discretely told the patrons to stop that. The restaurant is currently closed for renovations, part of which now includes the installation of surveillance cameras, unusual for a restaurant, as opposed to a bar or club.
One manager said there were a couple of cases last year where patrons only discovered their wallets were missing when they reached for them to pay their bills.
Stephanie's managers appeared before the board along with MacDonald to answer a complaint from one theft victim, who claimed she initially did not report her loss to police because a Stephanie's manager told her not to because police wouldn't do anything. In fact, when she did report the theft, MacDonald launched an investigation.
Stephanie's lawyer, Karen Simao - who admitted to slinging her purse over the back of her chair as well - strongly denied the accusation and provided the board with a log of all the times a manager called District D-4 - and sometimes a particular detective directly - when a patron reported a wallet theft last year.
The manager who initially dealt with the woman whose complaint led to the hearing said that, in fact, he offered to call police but that she was the one who said not to bother. Simao said the woman's account had several inconsistencies - she claimed the incident happened on a slow Saturday, which Simao said was impossible because Stephanie's is always packed on Saturdays.
The woman, who lives in Maine, did not attend today's hearing.
The board decides tomorrow whether to sanction Stephanie's and, if so, how.
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Comments
Sorry, but this woman from
Sorry, but this woman from Maine and other tourists/visitors have to realize that Boston is overrun with dope addicts who practice this routine on a regular basis.
Oh, goodness, I hope you're not journeying into the city
Or are you commenting on the purse-snatching post in the wine-throwing post?
How inappropriate coming from
How inappropriate coming from someone who runs this blog.
Yes, I am an idiot, for which I apologize
To the original commenter: My apologies, and feel free to hurl an insult or two my way.
Somehow, I thought this was the wine-tossing thread, not the purse-snatching thread. You're absolutely right to raise concerns about the latter; I, for some reason, thought you were commenting on the former, because I need to not post two stories in a row about Back Bay behaving badly or something, at least not without making sure which discussion I'm in.
Ya, but you got 15 up votes!
Ya, but you got 15 up votes! Obviously you're not alone in the confusion.
Doncha know?
Maine doesn't have any junkies.
/snark
Nor prostitutes
Just Zumba instructors.
I was commenting on the purse
I was commenting on the purse snatching post. A dope addict wouldn't be spending cash on a glass of wine at a Back Bay at a restaurant. A cash score means copping a bag of dope. Sorry, I had experience with heroin addicts who explain to me the lifestyle. Years ago, they would wait at the trash barrel at CVS to see if anyone would throw their receipts away upon leaving the store. Then the dope addict would grab the receipt and go in the store to steal that item and return it. But that was before technology and surveillance everywhere. I used to know people who would get out of bed every morning (if they had a bed) and did bar/hotel lounge/restaurant purse snatching all the time. Apparently, they are still doing it!
See my apology above
I thought you were getting discussions confused. You weren't. I was.
*Purse* clutching
The headline said *purse* clutching, anon. Not pearl.
Another case solved!
Had to be a dope addict, right? Especially on Newbury Street, which is just overrun with those people! Couldn't be just a regular pickpocket or a nicely dressed business woman who might, I dunno, blend in at a Newbury Street restaurant?
Consider: Not all addicts are thieves. Not all thieves are addicts. Not all stereotypes and prejudices are worth sharing.
Okay, but I'd be willing to
Okay, but I'd be willing to wager it's a dope addict.
"Purse Hooks"?
I've encountered these in bars in many cities (US and Europe) and some places in the Boston area. They seem to be pretty standard in Ireland. I had no idea that they were "purse hooks" per se ... I have heard them called "bag hooks" and, even, "helmet hooks".
In other words, a place for urbanites to put a pack/bag/stuff such that it is out of the way of others. A convenience for patrons, and for staff and all those attempting to walk past them or around them alike. Personally, I'd love it if they became standard issue at bars in the US.
Ya maybe in your
bizarre unicycle utopia they're called "Helmet Hooks". Also bike on a public road while intoxicated is extremely stupid!
Great for hanging the bodies of cowards
Especially the ones who spout off in random and unfathomable directions such as the "drinking a beer at a bar = drunk" direction.
Don't know what the deal is with this "unicycle" fetish amongst anons - perhaps that's the most complex mechanical system you can fathom?
I have never seen or heard of
I have never seen or heard of these hooks in Ireland, also I have done security and barwork in Ireland.
Interesting
It seemed like everywhere we went there was a set of them under the bar.
That goes for Doolin as well as Galway and Dublin.
It could be that we were going to pubs in areas where most people arrived on foot, as opposed to places that were mostly drinking places.
Strange because I'm from
Strange because I'm from Galway and have never seen these and what do you mean places on foot? I only know 1 place that has a drive through off licence and that is in Enniskillen in Fermanagh, up the north. Most tourist pubs in Galway are off of shop street which is pedestrian only except early morning when pubs are closed
Not sure what to say
Other than I have pictures of them in my Facebook albums from Ireland captioned "this should be required at home".
We went from Shannon to Doolin, Galway, Sligo, Newgrange, and Dublin.
Maybe you somehow got lucky
Maybe you somehow got lucky and found all the pubs with hooks
OMG, these are just hooks
OMG, these are just hooks that someone thought (rightfully so) would be handy for purses to be hung under a bar, table, anywhere.
I didn't even have to go to Ireland to find one, my hairdresser has used these for years.
Thank you
I don't get the amazement. They have them at The Greatest Bar, and probably several other places in Boston.
Truly
They are around. I use them at the bar at Regina's in the North End. I'm sure I've used them in other bars in Boston, too.
Pubs vs. Bars
Pubs in Ireland have them because people drop in all day to eat, have a pint, read a book, chat with friends, and like to hang their coats or hats or bags there. The booths have their own hooks.
Bars with music or a stage don't because people don't sit at the bar much.
Pub v bars there is no
Pub v bars there is no difference in Ireland except some places call themselves a bar because they think it makes them seem more upmarket and will charge you mote money for a inferior pint of stout
Coat hooks?
I've always thought they were called coat hooks and am annoyed when bars don't have them. For my coat.
No, purse hooks
Coat hooks are where you put your coat and then hope it's still there when you go back at the end of the meal. Purse hooks are attached under the bar near where your legs would normally go.
Both
I use them for both and not because it gets things out of the way to patrons behind me, but keeps things within my view for security's sake.
I haven't slung a purse over a chair back since I was much younger (mid 80's) and that was only when I lived in the 'burbs north of Boston.
Why do people think they're safe in any restaurant, high end or no?
You and your purses
You ladies just need to learn to wad up all your everyday items into greasy fistfuls and jam them haphazardly into whatever grimy pockets hang off your dirty clothes, like a man. Anyone going for my sweaty clump of money while I dine at Sonsie will only be rewarded with a handful of melted chapstick, used tissues from two or three colds ago, and a small baby bird that I've been raising.
That's why I carry a
That's why I carry a messenger bag. The thought of a murse was equally as disturbing as my artifical childbearing hips of crammed pockets, so now it only takes me 2 minutes to find my wallet amongst a mess of cvs receipts, inner tubes, various wrenches and about a hundred dunkin donuts napkins in various states of decay.
Woe to the homeless hobo who asks for a quarter, because in the time it'd take for me to find one he could get sober.
WTAF?
Considering charging Stephanie's? For telling someone not to bother calling the police? I can understand if someone in the position of a manager at a licensed establishment, say, deliberately gave false info to keep the police and crime stats away from their place, like telling people the police won't take reports without any breaking and entering, or something like that. But saying that the police won't do anything? That's a vague statement, and one that can be pretty well backed up by facts; most reports of nonviolent crimes result in a police report that gets shoved in a filing cabinet with, in fact, nothing done about it.
Regardless of anyone's opinion, shouldn't it be protected speech that the police aren't very effective in fighting minor crimes? Or that they don't do their jobs? Or that they outright suck?
No
The allegation is that Stephanie's discouraged a patron from reporting a crime to the police. That is something they would be charged for.
Sadly, I've worked at plenty of places where we were told to not call the police- even for major crimes- because "it will be bad publicity in the police blotter." The idea is to punish businesses that disempower victims in that way.
Didn't work out too well for Rogies......
Nt
Sounds like the police didn't
Sounds like the police didn't do anything until someone told them that Stephanie's was saying they wouldn't do anything.
I see this all of the time in
I see this all of the time in Boston. It seems to be students and tourists... people leaving their purses and laptops on the table at Starbucks while they use the restroom. It's pretty shocking!
Just to Clarify
I was the actual victim from Maine that went to Stephanie's on yes, a rather slow Saturday, where there happened to be two bar seats open...first mistake. We ate two salads, did not drink, did not leave our chairs to go powder our noses, and left the restaurant. We were not shopping that day, came down on a mission. When we discovered the missing wallet, almost immediately, we went back to Stephanie's and let them know. When I asked the nervous manager what the usual protocol was he said don't call the police because they don't do anything. The purse was hung on the back of my chair (no hooks under the bar at all!) and my coat was draped over it. It was a group of professionals that lifted the wallet because there were no patrons waiting near the bar or my chair for a seat and the place was not standing room only which I have seen before. Stephanie's is quite often a target for professional criminals and once I posted my story on TripAdvisor and Yelp to warn others, I got several emails from other victims, all advised not to call the police. I am not the criminal here, and I did not leave my purse on the counter and head off to use my cell phone. Stephanie's needs security cameras and people need to be warned that criminals are everywhere and especially in places where the credit cards that they steal can be used to charge $10,000+ in purchases. Who do you think pays for this in the end. And the Apple Store, Best Buy and Bloomingdales did not even ask for id for charges over $3000. I have learned my lesson. When in cities, guard your wallet and purse! And no, this does not happen as regularly in Maine. Believe me.
Yup
I was with out-of-town family at the Panera on Kneeland when a cousin's daughter (still a cousin, yes?) put her purse on the shelf by the window and then walked away from it to stand in line with us prepping to order food. I strongly recommended to my Northampton family member that this was probably Not a Good Idea.