By Kathianne Boniello
Burglaries in the Bayside-based 111th Precinct appear to be declining after a recent spate of incidents in southern Bayside, Little Neck and Douglaston, Capt. Julio Ordonez said this week.
Ordonez said Monday burglaries in the northeast Queens precinct, which hit a high of about 50 in January, have dropped to 31 for the period between Feb. 11 and March 30. The captain credited crime prevention techniques used by his officers as well as a series of arrests in February and March for the decrease.
One of those arrests came last week when two 111th Precinct officers apprehended a Brooklyn man in southern Bayside.
Danny Munoz, 37, of 19 Euclid Ave., was arrested March 27 and charged with two counts of burglary when Officer Wilfred Torres and Sgt. Mike Turner responded to the area after a concerned neighbor noticed suspicious activity and called police, Ordonez said.
When officers investigated the scene, Ordonez said they found Munoz starting up his car. When they approached Munoz, he fled, the captain said. Torres and Turner eventually caught up to Munoz in a private back yard, Ordonez said.
Ordonez said the efforts of his officers as well as the New York Police Department’s special units have helped drive down crime in the precinct.
“Everybody’s doing what they’re supposed to do,” he said. “It’s a focused effort for the benefit of the whole command.”
Neighbors who alert police to abnormal activity in their areas have been a plus, Ordonez said.
“Nosy neighbors are my best friend,” said the captain, who has urged residents concerned about suspicious activity to call police as soon as possible.
The 111th Precinct includes the communities of Bayside, Little Neck, Douglaston, Oakland Gardens, Hollis Hills and parts of Fresh Meadows and Auburndale. Ordonez said last month that burglaries had been highest in central and eastern sections of the precinct, particularly in southern Bayside and sections of Douglaston and Little Neck near the Long Island Expressway.
Nearby precincts such as the 109th in Flushing and the 107th in Fresh Meadows had also experienced a jump in burglaries in early 2002, but the rate fell in the week from March 18 to March 24, according to NYPD crime statistics.
Reach reporter Kathianne Boniello by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 146.
