A string of robberies around a Brooklyn men’s shelter has put Department of Homeless Service officers on high alert both inside and outside the facility.
So far this year, five robberies occurred in close proximity to the Armory Men’s Shelter at 1322 Bedford Ave., according to arrest data provided by the NYPD.
Another two happened within a block of the facility and a third occurred just two blocks away, police said.
Cops said a few of the victims and some of the suspects were linked to the Armory Shelter — but others had no affiliation with the address.
Police were only able to provide names for suspects in the five robberies that happened closest to the Armory Men’s Shelter.
Of the eight suspect names given, four were former clients of the shelter system, according to a law enforcement source.
The Department of Homeless Services has increased the number of peace officers deployed at the facility from 37 to 54 over the last year.
“Improving safety and security for our clients and staff is paramount — and our partnership with the NYPD is helping us do just that, with better policing and increased monitoring resulting in more effective reporting and enforcement in our shelters,” said department spokesman Isaac McGinn.
Still, in one incident at 9 a.m. on Jan. 1 at the intersection of Atlantic and Bedford Aves., a man walking from work was approached by one of the suspects, who punched him in the face, threw him to the ground, kicked him and robbed of $500, cops said.
Police arrested Akim Gist that day and charged him with robbery and assault.
Two incidents late in March happened at Bedford and Pacific Aves.
In one case, two men and a woman approached a victim and stole $10. In the second, two suspects punched a male victim in the eye and stole his EBT and debit card, police said. Marcus Springs, 44, and Ronald Fields, 60, were arrested and charged with robbery. Both are former shelter system clients, the law enforcement source said.
The fourth incident happened inside a “residential community,” police said. The victim was robbed of a gold necklace and an Apple watch — and threatened with a knife when he demanded it back, cops said.
The other victims robbed within one or two blocks of the shelter lost iPhones and cash — and in one case, a backpack, cops said.
DHS police officers are aware of the rash of robberies, but there’s little they can do for crimes that happen outside shelter property, sources said.
Over the last week, a man at a facility on E. 30th St. in Manhattan was stabbed in an argument with another client, according to arrest info. The victim is expected to survive.
At that same shelter Thursday night, a resident accused another of trying to perform oral sex on him while he slept. When the victim woke up, he hit the other man to get him to stop. Police came and charged the suspect with forcible touching.
That same evening, at a men’s facility in Brooklyn, one drunk resident stabbed another in the back, cops said. Both survived.
On Wednesday, two women roommates got into a fight in the Bronx and one pulled a knife on the other, cops said.
That same day, at the Armory Shelter in Brooklyn, a male client bashed another one repeatedly with a metal garbage can, police said.
Those incidents followed two other violent assaults — one with a belt buckle prong and the other with a metal pipe — outside homeless shelters, and a report of a loaded .380 magnum found inside the closet of an apartment in a family shelter.
