Lincoln Continental (Ford file)
A Brooklyn man’s stolen car was recovered on Monday when the suspect got greedy and bought a pair of sneakers with a credit card the victim left inside the vehicle.
Shloime Melamed, a 23-year-old rabbinical student, said he couldn’t find his car Monday morning and then watched home surveillance footage showing his wheels being jacked at about 4:10 a.m.
Melamed reported the theft to both the Borough Park Shmira patrol and NYPD
“I asked, ‘What are the chances of retrieving the car?;” Melamed told The Post about when he called police.
“He said, ‘To be honest with you, somewhere between slim to none.’ It was good he gave me honesty but at the same time, it hurt hearing that.”
Melamed was resolved to never seeing his 2018 Lincoln Continental, or the wallet he left inside, again.
That was until his bank called to report some shady action on his credit card – back-to-back shoe purchases for $150 and $225 at a Sunset Park sporting goods store.
It was that second purchase, Melamed said, that tipped off the bank.
“I’m sure they thought, ‘Why wait for later, we’ll regret not getting more now,'” Melamed said.
When the Shmira went to check out the shoe purchase, the patrol spotted Melamed’s Lincoln less than two blocks away and notified cops at the 72nd Precinct to stake out the hot wheels.
Officers swarmed on a 19-year-old East Flatbush man getting into Melamed’s car, police said.
He was charged with grand larceny, possession of stolen property and authorized use of a vehicle, law enforcement sources said.