At about 5:48 a.m. on Monday, a fight broke out at an apartment building in the East Village.
Robert Rainey, 21, broke into a man’s apartment and stole his mobile phone and MacBook Pro laptop. The man was said to be with a prostitute at the time, and reports say that the prostitute may be an accomplice of Rainey. The man fought Rainey, and sustained slashes from a box cutter on his face. The prostitute quickly fled the scene after using pepper spray on the victim.
The New York Police Department only had the statements of the victim and Rainey to work with. The apartment was next to Friends star David Schwimmer’s home, and the police noticed that he had a surveillance camera installed. Schwimmer cooperated with the police and provided the surveillance tape, which will be used in court.
The tape caught the latter part of the fight, as the victim and Rainey moved out of the apartment and out to the sidewalk. Rainey is held on $20,000 bail and he was charged with robbery, criminal possession of a weapon, and assault. Police are still searching for the prostitute.
By helping solve a crime, neighbors may now be friendlier with Schwimmer. Since purchasing the home in 2010, Schwimmer has not been popular with the neighbors. He purchased the oldest home in the neighborhood, and demolished it, which angered some residents. The neighbors also complained of the disturbances caused by renovations to the home.
One neighbor said, “Four years ago, I would say David Schwimmer was the least popular guy on the block with the construction and all.” He continued that Schwimmer may be a decent neighbor after all and that he is glad that the actor aided the police in solving the crime.
CNN tried to reach out to Schwimmer’s representatives, but they have not released a statement regarding the incident.
Image via Wikimedia Commons