Sunnyside's Burglary Rate Continues to Decline

Police at 48th Street and 43rd Avenue (Photo: SunnysidePost)

April 30, 2014 By Christian Murray

The rash of residential burglaries that plagued Sunnyside at the end of last year has largely subsided.

The north side of Sunnyside was subject to 16 burglaries in December and remained stubbornly high at the beginning of the year.

However, in the past two months, the number of burglaries has undergone a marked drop on the north side of Queens Boulevard. In March there were just two burglaries reported and for April the number was two yet again.

This month, one of the two incidents occurred on 49^th Street, when a thief gained access to an apartment by pushing in an air conditioner. The other incident occurred when a burglar gained entrance to an apartment on apartment on 41^st Street by telling the 97-year-old victim that he was a building inspector. While inside the apartment, the thief stole cash from the lady’s dresser.

The police did have some success, nabbing a burglar on 46th Street (btw. Queens Blvd and 43rd Ave) on April 16 at 11 pm. The perpetrator attempted to break into an apartment by gaining access to a rear window. The police received a call and apprehended the man in the lobby.

The number of burglaries on the south side of the boulevard continues to remain low, according to data.

Captain Brian Hennessy, the commanding officer of the 108 precinct, said that burglaries—both residential and commercial—had declined throughout the precinct for the 28 day period ending April 27. Eleven had been reported for the period, compared to 17 to the same 28-day period in 2013.

One resident, who attended last night’s monthly precinct meeting, complained that there was an uptick in graffiti – along 43^rd Street, from the LIRR railroad trestle to 43^rd Avenue. She also said that there was a graffiti problem on or near 43^rd Avenue, around 43^rd and 44^th Streets.

Hennessy said that graffiti cleanup crews are starting to tackle some of the hotspots in the precinct and the precinct has made some arrests.

There were two significant crimes involving banks in Sunnyside this week, which led to arrests. At Capital One, at 40-20 Queens Blvd, a man exited the bank with cash in a bag. While he placed the bag in his car, two women approached him.

The women threw dollar bills on the ground in front of the victim. While one of them said: “’Excuse me, Sir, you dropped some money,’” Hennessy said, the other put her hand in the victim’s bag and started stuffing cash down her pants. The women were spotted by onlookers and the police apprehended them.

Meanwhile, a man was apprehended outside of Dime Savings Bank on 46^th Street yesterday on charges related to cloning fraudulent ATM cards. Hennessy said the police are investigating the incident and are trying to determine the extent of the crime and how many victims there might be.