NYPD forced to use dental records to ID dead man who was pickpocketed

Cops are having to resort to using dental records and fingerprints to try to identify the man who was pickpocketed after being crushed to death by a construction truck in Manhattan, police sources told The Post on Sunday.

“We’ve already lifted prints, and waiting on dental,” one police source said. “Thankfully they didn’t steal his teeth too.”

The ghoulish crook — who also remains unidentified — was caught on video taking the victim’s wallet after the deadly Midtown mishap Thursday while onlookers cheered her on, leaving cops with few means to identify the unfortunate pedestrian.

“They took his ID so we can’t ID him,” a high-ranking NYPD source said. “He’s a John Doe right now.”

The victim, believed to be in his 50s, was crossing Eighth Avenue at West 44th Street around 11:30 p.m. Thursday when he was slammed by the truck, killing him.

Cold-hearted bystanders can be heard on video egging the thief on.

“Go ahead, gangsta,” one man is heard shouting. “Go ahead!”

But more level-headed New Yorkers were still disgusted by the sick pickpocket.

“That’s crazy,” sanitation worker Jake Sean said at the scene Sunday. “How can you steal from a body on the street? That’s f–ked up. You’ve got to be at your lowest to do that.”

Security guard Luis Ortiz said the crime was callous even by Big Apple standards.

“Living in New York you expect to see some weird things,” Ortiz said. “But to go through a body and steal? That’s a new level. It’s sad to believe you could be a person who goes through a dead person’s pockets.”

Another local, Sandra, who works in finance, said she was “horrified.”

“That’s really a whole new level of horrificness,” the Queens resident said.

Paul DiGiacomo, president of the Detective’s Endowment Association, maintained that the brazen crime is a symptom of a failed criminal justice system.

Robert Miller

Robert Miller

Robert Miller

“Criminals have no fear of repercussions anymore and they will victimize even the dead,” DiGiacomo said Sunday. When are our politicians going to wake up?”

A veteran cop called the callous theft “a travesty,” and griped that “this is the new New York and there’s no outrage. Nobody’s marching for this [thief’s] head.”

One police source added: “You know things are bad when the only people getting fingerprinted these days are the victims.”