Springtime Purse Snatcher Targets Drunk Chicks at Beloved Clinton Hill Bar

• Photo via The Emerson/Facebook

CLINTON HILL, BROOKLYN — The Emerson, a beloved bar and self-proclaimed "transcendental lounge" on Myrtle Avenue at Emerson Place, is warning customers not to leave their bags unattended whilst inebriated — after the same springtime purse snatcher apparently struck twice in as many weeks.

"This happens every year around springtime," Gina Jankowski, a manager at The Emerson, told Patch by phone Wednesday. "We don't have this problem often, but when we do, it's always this time of year."

Around 2:30 a.m. on the morning of Saturday, April 30, an unidentified male stole a purse from inside the chill neighborhood bar and sometimes live-music venue at 561 Myrtle, according to the NYPD.

Then, on Friday, May 13, police believe the same man entered the bar around 11:15 p.m. and stole a second purse.

NYPD detectives have since released the following surveillance footage of Clinton Hill's alleged springtime purse snatcher entering The Emerson.

One of the purses stolen from The Emerson was "unattended completely," Jankowski said, "And the other was on the back of a chair."

"Literally in both incidents, the person who took them was not even inside of the bar for more than five minutes," the bar manager said. "He's not a regular customer. He comes when it's very, very busy — later in the night, when people aren't as alert."

Multiple NYPD-issued signs reminding drinkers to keep an eye on their belongings are now posted throughout The Emerson — and Jankowski plans on posting some more.

"Keep your bags on the hooks on the bar," she pleaded. "Don't leave your stuff on the chair."

And if you recognize the NYPD suspect in the video above, police ask that you tip them off online or by phone at 1-800-577-TIPS.