Duo’s Blue humor
A TEENAGE runaway busted for shoplifting in Brooklyn led police to a sex trafficker, police sources said Tuesday.
The 14-year-old girl allegedly told detectives at the 63rd Precinct stationhouse late Monday that she left her Nevada home for California, where she met a man who forced her into prostitution there and in New York City.
While she was being questioned, sources said, the suspect, 17-year-old Mark Obeyz, walked into the stationhouse and was arrested.
He was charged early Tuesday with acting in a matter injurious to a child less than 17 years old.
Detectives assigned to a human trafficking unit are trying to determine if the Brooklyn teen was working with anyone else.
This is the first city arrest for Obeyz, who lives Kensington.
Sources said he used to live in California.
The sticky-fingered teenager was taken into custody after she and a 19-year-old woman were arrested for shoplifting, cops said.
The older woman allegedly stole $663 in clothing from the Macy’s store at the Kings Plaza shopping center.
Because the younger girl is a sex-crime victim, she was not charged, sources said. GUFFAW & ORDER.
A pair of wisecracking cops are adding a little levity to the serious world of police work with a wacky website that pokes fun at the NYPD.
Using fake bylines — Frank Reagan from “Blue Bloods” and Andy Sipowicz from “NYPD Blue” — the anonymous officers have been putting their own spin on the cop culture on a site call “The Hairbag Times.”
Among the recent headlines: l “Police Academy Instructors Confused By Modern Day Policing.” l “Highway Unit Finally Available For 10-53 (vehicle crash) on Highway.” l “Entire SRG (Strategic Response Group) Goes Sick to Prove Point, But No One Notices They’re Missing.”
The pair, who have been running the site since August, insist they don’t have an ax to grind with the department. They just said they’re having a little fun.
“We’re happy with our careers,” said one of the writers. “We don’t have a grudge against the department. We try to walk a fine line, to keep it lighthearted and not angry.”
The term “Hairbag” is department slang for a burned-out veteran cop.
The site has 4,639 Facebook followers, and kudos from hundreds of officers, who are also curious about their identities.
Some readers initially thought the posts were true.
“Anybody know who these guys are? This is pure brilliance,” reads a typical post on the Hairbag Times Facebook page.
“These guys actually have the pulse of the department,” a second wrote.
Although a Daily News reporter tracked them down, the pair seemed unconcerned that they work in a department filled with detectives.
It hasn’t been easy, they said, but they have been able so far to preserve their anonymity. As they noted, the department can be less than pleased with criticism no matter how lighthearted.
“Staying anonymous ensures we can freely poke fun without worrying about offending the wrong person or taking away from the jokes,” one of the cops said.
Sometimes, officers ask for their unit to be lampooned. “We get emails from guys saying, ‘Do my unit next, do my unit next,’ ” one of the authors said. “That tells me no one is getting bent out of shape about it.”
Deputy Commissioner Stephen Davis, a police spokesman, said, “The Police Department has no affiliation with this website, and we have no control over what they post.”
Their only concern is running out of story ideas, but that hasn’t proved to be a problem.
“Our list of future ideas is ever growing,” one of the authors said, laughing. “We think it’s actually helped morale. That’s the most rewarding thing.”