BROOKLYN — A former employee smashed the front window of a Crown Heights pizza shop and stole the store’s delivery bicycle, in a burglary captured on surveillance footage early Monday morning.

Around 3:45 a.m., the man walked up to Sauce N Cheese on Albany Avenue between Lefferts and E. New York Avenue, carrying a bag with what appears to be a long heavy object. He smashed the window of the store, grabbed its electric bicycle and fled, all in under 25 seconds.

The bicycle was valued at $2,000, and the store window will cost $1,800 to replace, the store manager, who declined to give his name, told Hamodia.

The manager said he recognized the burglar as a former part-time worker at the store, who goes by the name Mel and worked there on-and-off around 2016 or 2017. The manager said he just saw Mel walking by the store on Sunday, and that Mel stole a bicycle from the store in 2019, nabbing the bike as the workers were closing up the store for the evening.

According to the manager, Mel has been arrested at least once in New Jersey, and “he keeps bouncing between New Jersey and New York.”

The store was cleaned up and open for business as usual by 11:00 a.m. Monday.

Store owner Menachem Sheinberger told Hamodia he has seen a sharp rise in crime in the area recently, and he is frustrated because he believes criminals are not prosecuted aggressively.

Sheinberger said he urges everyone to report every crime, no matter how small.

“In Crown Heights, and maybe in New York in general, people don’t report crimes because they know nothing will happen,” Sheinberger said. “Nevertheless, I think every crime should be reported. If every one of us reports every crime, even minor ones, slowly but surely the reports will pile up. And something should be happening.”

Sheinberger, who will now be installing metal gates over his store windows, told Hamodia that a scooter was stolen from a customer in his other store, Holesome Bagels, several months ago.

He also said he lives across the street from a Dollar Tree store that suffers from frequent shoplifting.

“Robberies have become a regular thing in the past year,” he said.

Sheinberger’s assertion is borne out by NYPD statistics: In June of this year, there was a 41% increase in grand larceny, a 36% increase in robbery, and a 34% rise in burglary in New York City, compared with the same month of 2021. May saw a 42% increase in grand larceny, a 26% increase in robbery, and a 28% rise in burglary, compared with the year-ago period. In April, grand larceny rose 41%, robbery soared 48% increase in robbery, and burglary shot up by 40%, comparted with April 2021.

The feeling of lack of consequences for crime was also expressed in a tweet Monday morning by Crown Heights activist Rabbi Yaacov Behrman, who wrote, “This morning in Crown Heights. Brazen thief smashes pizza shop window to steal a bike. Why go through all this effort just for a bike? Answer: he knows he isn’t going to get caught or prosecuted. @NYPD71Pct prove him wrong!”

Asked why he believes crime is rising, Sheinberger replied, “I don’t know, I’m not a politician. I’m just a guy who wants to make a living in New York City.”

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