Cops capture one-legged thief who stole cell phone from woman at landromat

Cops capture one-legged thief who stole cell phone from woman at landromat


This guy was no one-armed bandit, but he did hop into a Brooklyn laundermat on one leg and swipe a worker's cell phone.

Predictably, the suspect didn't get far before cops - relying on victim Marlene Ramos' description of the unusual thief and his accomplice - caught up to him.

"I said. 'You can't miss them - one has both legs the other just doesn't,'" said Ramos, an attendant at Dirtbusters on Atlantic Ave.

"He's a one-legged thief."

The phone-snatcher, identified by cops as Jamal Enoe, 33, came into the laundry on crutches about 10:45 a.m. Thursday with a two-legged pal.

He asked Ramos for change for $5, and she left her new BlackBerry Curve on a table while she fetched some quarters and dollar bills from a back room.

"You can see into the laundry from the back and I saw him giving something to his friend, but it didn't click in that moment," said Ramos, 38.

"I came back and gave him two dollar bills and $3 in quarters.

"He said, 'Thank you sweetheart, you're so nice.'

"Then he turns around and he hops out of the laundermat with his friend."

Moments later, Ramos realized her cell phone was gone.

"I was so sad because I just bought the phone a week and a half ago," said Ramos, who lives in Boerum Hill.

She dialed her number and got no answer, then called 911. Officers from the 84th Precinct took down descriptions and went out to search.

A half-hour after the 911 calls, they spotted Enoe and buddy Neville Campbell, 22, just a block away. They seized Ramos' stolen phone.

Enoe was charged with petty larceny and held in lieu of $1,000 bail. He has previous arrests for drunken driving, assault with a knife, menacing and gun possession.

In 2006, he was busted for stealing a Jeep Liberty in SoHo and pleaded guilty to attempted grand larceny auto, court records show.

Campbell, who has arrests for gun possession, marijuana possession and selling drugs, was charged with possession of stolen property, police said.

"When the cops caught them they [had] changed vests but, even if you change vests, you're still a one-legged thief," Ramos said.

With Oren Yaniv and Kerry Burke

cboyle@nydailynews.com
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