Crime Watch

BY JERRY DANZIG

Burglary SpreePolice are alerting residents of a rash of burglaries along in the First Avenue neighborhood between 64th and 65th Streets and are advising them to keep windows locked until the perpetrator or perpetrators are apprehended. In the first incident, which took place between Nov. 4 and Dec. 21, a couple living at 1194 First Ave., just south of 65th Street, noticed items missing from their apartment. Police determined that the burglar or burglars had gained access to the apartment through a kitchen window from a network of scaffolding and fire escapes surrounding the building. The items stolen included a Spiewak parka valued at $900, black Red Wing boots priced at $250, and a Puma jersey tagged at $150.

A resident on a different floor in the same building then reported her sunglasses and earrings had gone missing on either Dec. 22 or Dec. 23, while a laptop had been relocated. Again the window was the point of entry for the burglar. A few days later, the woman reported to police that she was awoken on Dec. 29 at about 6 a.m. when she heard a noise outside her window. She screamed, and a presumed would-be burglar fled. A few minutes later, a resident at 421 E. 65th St., about half block from the First Avenue building, told police she someone attempting to open one of her windows. She screamed, and again the would-be perpetrator fled.

Later that day, another of the building’s residents told police he that sometime time between when he left his apartment at 8 a.m. and when he returned at 12:40 p.m. someone had broken into his apartment via a living room window and taken $100 in cash and $600 in Euro currency.

And sometime between Dec. 20 and Dec. 26, a resident of 429 East 65th St. away on vacation received an alert that someone had purchased PlayStation merchandise using his PayPal account. When the man returned home he found items missing and others relocated, while his bedroom window had been unlocked. The items stolen included a PlayStation 4 valued at $300, two PS4 controllers priced at $120, and four PlayStation games.

Computer ProblemsAn East 96th Street resident was scammed out of $34,000 by someone advising her by phone on several occasions since August that her computer had problems that the caller could fix — for a price. The calls continued until December 9. The woman, 79, paid the caller via iTunes gift cards to repair the alleged problems.