Oct. 10, 2024 By Bill Parry
Police from the 115th Precinct in Jackson Heights are looking for a brazen burglar who broke into an East Elmhurst home late last month and was caught on a security camera making off with a large flat-screen television in broad daylight.
The pilferer targeted a residence in the vicinity of Astoria Boulevard and 98th Street during the morning of Friday, Sept 27, and forcibly entered the home through a rear door, police said Wednesday. Once inside, the perpetrator forcibly removed the flat-screen TV from a living room wall and other personal items.
The suspect was then caught on camera walking through an alleyway behind the home, lugging the stolen flat-screen valued at approximately $600, police said. The burglar was last seen traveling northbound on 99th Street toward the Helen Marshall Playground.
The NYPD released the surveillance video of the suspect on Wednesday and described him as having a light complexion. He wore a gray Nike t-shirt, black shorts, white sneakers, a black baseball cap, and a pair of black gloves and he had a black tote bag slung over his shoulder.
A reward of up to $3,500 is being offered for information that leads to his arrest.
Anyone with information regarding this burglary is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at crimestoppers.nypdonline.org or on X (the platform formerly known as Twitter) @NYPDTips. All calls and messages are kept confidential.
Through Oct. 6, the 115th Precinct has reported 171 burglaries so far in 2024, 53 more than the 118 reported at the same point last year, an increase of 44.9%, according to the most recent CompStat report.