Purse snatchings hit cafes
Thieves suspected of posing as patrons
It may be the latest crime wave to hit the city, but it's not happening in dark alleys or on the streets of this summer's battle-worn neighborhoods.
Think posh cafes along Newbury and Boylston streets, such as Armani Café or Stephanie's. Here, where customers carry Coach, Kate Spade, and
At the Armani Café, with its crisp white tablecloths and broad umbrellas, at least two snatchings have occurred in the last month .
Police suspect a well-dressed couple posing as patrons may be behind the uptick, and they are warning women to keep a close eye on their bags.
``There just seems to be a rash of them," said Carolyn MacNeil, the Police Department's community services coordinator for the area. ``Mostly, they're being taken off the backs of chairs."
Workers at some outdoor cafes say they recently have had some suspicious customers, such as people who ask to be seated and then disappear moments later. Not long after, a customer will complain of a missing purse.
Meanwhile, alarmed customers have been finding creative ways to tether their bags to their bodies, wrapping straps from the bag around their legs, a chair, or underneath a high heel. Some restaurants have been supplying hooks under the table for bags to be hung.
Jolinda Taylor, president of the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay, said tourists are probably getting hit the hardest, in part because they are disarmed by the Back Bay's atmosphere.
``Some of the restaurants on Newbury and Boylston, they are seemingly friendly and feel like the suburbs; people forget this is a city," she said. ``Sadly, the very people you wish would have a good experience in Boston are the ones losing their purses and wallets."
At Stephanie's on Newbury yesterday, at least a half-dozen purses seemed snatchable. About a dozen others were not, as handbags were on a lap or had straps tangled in the chair.
``A lot of times I'll put it by my feet," said Allana Fabrikant, 27, who was taking a lunch break at Croma as she kept eyeing her wallet on the table. ``If it's hanging on the back of your chair, you don't know who is going to do what."
Restaurant managers and servers say that suspects are sometimes easy to spot. They look nervous or fidgety and keep checking out their surroundings.
But more often, restaurant staff say, the thief fits right in with the crowd. They sit down, and even order drinks. Then suddenly, they're gone.
Over the past several weeks, police say they suspect that many of the purse snatchings have been the work of a single thief -- or of a ring of thieves working together -- because the crimes are similar. Several restaurants have suspected a couple who work in tandem. Another noticed a woman in a polka-dot dress that waiters suspect did the dirty deed.
Antoine Delgado, managing partner of Luigi and Roscoe's, said that in the past he has seen couples in suits who work together, as one chats with someone as the other moves in for the grab.
``It's amazing how they order drinks as they get closer to the purse," he said. ``They look like they just got off work, and they'll come in at 4 or 5. They really are pros."
About five years ago, MacNeil said, there was a similar spate of purse snatchings, but in recent years petty larceny in the area has been relatively calm.
Some restaurants warn customers when their bags are exposed, but others are weary of turning potential customers away by implying that the area is dangerous.
In the food court at the Prudential Center, however, a sign on blue placards at all the tables reads, ``Please keep your purse and other valuables in your view and under your control at all times."
Not all have been quite so subtle, however. Last week, according to police reports, a Foxborough man went into a building on Tremont Street in the South End, jumped on a table, grabbed a purse, and fled in a green Ford pickup truck.
Police said that the man, David Butt, 37, struck a police cruiser, hit a steel barrier, and climbed onto the roof of a building. Fifteen minutes later, he was arrested and now faces six charges, including one for unarmed robbery.
Matt Viser can be reached at maviser@globe.com. 
