LET ’EM LOOSE LUNACY
60-bust serial con sprung
A serial thief with more than 60 arrests was released without bail following his latest caught-on-camera theft in a Manhattan supermarket, authorities said.
Robert Stover, 58, whose lengthy criminal record dates back to 1984, allegedly snatched a wallet from 89year-old Norman Heyman as the victim was shopping with his wife at the Morton Williams supermarket on East 23rd Street at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, according to police.
Before Stover was busted later in the day, he allegedly charged more than $1,200 on one of Heyman’s credit cards.
Manhattan Criminal Court, Judge Michael Gaffey released Stover on supervised released Sunday — despite a request from prosecutors that he be held in lieu of $10,000 cash bail.
Heyman said he’s grateful the cops acted quickly, but he’s still ticked that Stover was cut loose.
“F--king A, it angers me,” Heyman fumed to The Post on Wednesday.
“I hate to see people go to jail — but damn it, if somebody keeps on doing this over and over and over again, and he hasn’t learned a lesson.
“The political forces that are here are not making citizens happy, It’s not making me happy. I don’t have an answer for it.”
The Manhattan DA’s Office argued that, although the charges against Stover are not eligible for bail under the justice reforms, his repeat offenses qualified him for bail.
Gaffey disagreed and ordered Stover freed while the case is pending.
NYPD Sgt. James Freyre of the Manhattan Transit Field Intelligence team said cops nabbed Stover so quickly because they were already there.
“We were set up in the area because there has been an uptick of grand larcenies in supermarkets in the area,” he said. “We saw Stover and recognized that he was wanted for several crimes in the Upper West Side.”
Heyman said he realized his wallet was missing on Saturday and, believing he left it behind, returned home — but it was not there, so he went back to the store. The manager showed him the surveillance footage and he called cops.
“I said, ‘Somebody took my wallet,’ ” he recalled telling the officers. “And they said, ‘I know. We have it,’ which sent me into absolute shock.
“I said, “I’m not going to ask you how and when and where you got this guy, but God bless you.’ ”
Stover’s Legal Aid attorney could not be reached for comment.
The case is part of a recent uptick in thefts, including transit run-and-grab heists.
“Overall crime rates across our entire system continues to improve,” MTA Chief Safety Officer Pat Warren said at an agency meeting Wednesday. “But assaults, robberies and larcenies have increased this past month.”