You are reading

Burglaries Down Nearly 50 Percent This Year

Capt. Travaglia

Capt. Travaglia

April 27, 2016 By Christian Murray

The high number of burglaries has long plagued residents of Sunnyside/Woodside and Long Island City, but this year the number of reported incidents is down nearly 50 percent compared to the same period in 2015.

Captain John Travaglia, Commanding Officer of the 108 Precinct, said that there have been 33 burglaries reported in the precinct for the year through April 24, down from 60 for the same period a year ago.

“Burglaries are a crime I place a lot of focus on,” Travaglia said at a precinct meeting held at Sunnyside Community Services last night. “It is the one crime that is most likely to touch the general [population].”

Sunnyside and Woodside have been plagued by burglaries in recent years. Travaglia said the two neighborhoods are more vulnerable than Long Island City since the houses and apartment buildings are much older and tend to be easier to break into.

The new apartments in Long Island City don’t have fire escapes, have much heavier metal doors and sturdier window locks.

Travaglia attributes the decline, in part, to targeting the right people.

He said that the precinct was also able to match the DNA and other forensics with two burglars who were responsible for 10 break-ins in October and November.

He said he believes the perpetrators are out of state at the moment and he has notified authorities in those jurisdictions.

He also attributed the decline to a number of police units working well together. He said that there continues to be good coordination between the field intelligence officers, the detective squad, crime prevention division and the forensics team.

Crime throughout the precinct is down two percent year to date, with all the major crimes down except for robbery and grand larceny. There have also been two murders for the year to date, compared to one for the same period a year ago.

The number of reported robberies is up nearly 40 percent this year, with 39 reported for the year through April 24, compared to 28 for the same period a year ago.

However, the precinct was subject to a wave of robberies in the past month that were committed by one individual and a group.

A Woodside man allegedly committed about 20 robberies in Brooklyn and Queens over a 10 day period with five taking place in the 108 Precinct.

Meanwhile, three homeless people were responsible for five robberies in the vicinity of 61st Street and Roosevelt Avenue.

“They would push people to the ground late at night and steal their wallet or cell phone,” said Lt. Jon Cermeli, who handles special operations for the precinct.

The police got good video footage of the men from one of the robberies and when officers went to an abandoned house on 69th Street, off Roosevelt Avenue, to clear it of trespassers, they recognized the men. They were arrested.

“That house was in bad shape. They were living in terrible conditions,” Cermeli said.

email the author: news@queenspost.com

3 Comments

Click for Comments 
hobojoe

“That house was in bad shape. They were living in terrible conditions,” Now they are living in a luxurious cardboard box

Reply
El loco

Hey does anyone know what’s going on with that restaurant on 43d and 43d. They were supposed to open s month ago. What’s going on g on there?!

Reply
OldenDays

“the precinct was also able to match the DNA and other forensics with two burglars who were responsible for 10 break-ins in October and November.

He said he believes the perpetrators are out of state at the moment and he has notified authorities in those jurisdictions.”

That sounds like these guys: http://sunnysidepost.com/2016/01/05/police-seek-two-men-allegedly-involved-in-nine-sunnysidewoodside-burglaries-in-past-3-months/

Hope they get ’em. Good work NYPD. There’s been a couple robberies in my immediate neighborhood which is scary, but I’m happy to hear it’s not part of a trend.

Reply

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

NY Hall of Science debuts CityWorks, its largest exhibition in over a decade

The New York Hall of Science in Corona opened its largest interactive exhibition in more than a decade on Saturday, May 3. The exhibition explores the often invisible inner workings of the built urban environment.

CityWorks is housed in a 6,000 square foot gallery, and the exhibit was created by a team of NYCSI exhibit developers, researchers, and educators over the past five years. Visitors will have the opportunity to explore the intricate systems and engineering that enable cities to function, including how they break, evolve, and endure.

Twenty people indicted in Queens-based $4.6M vehicle theft ring after three-year probe: DA

Twenty individuals were indicted and variously charged in a wide-ranging scheme to steal cars in Queens, throughout New York City and its suburbs, following a three-year investigation by the Queens District Attorney’s Office, the NYPD, and the New York State Police dubbed “Operation Hellcat,” into the criminal enterprise based in Queens.

Some of the vehicles were stolen from owners’ driveways, some with the keys or key fobs inside. The stolen vehicles were often sold through advertisements on social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. The defendants are charged in nine separate indictments for a total of 373 counts, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced on Thursday.