By Jeremy Walsh
Astorians and Middle Villagers were taking precautions against a pair of burglars masquerading as Con Edison workers last week after a string of elderly residents were victimized.
Police in the 104th and 114th precincts were searching for John George, 29, and Steve Demetro, who is said to be between 40 and 50. Both men have been named as suspects in a series of similar burglaries in the Bronx between September and last month, police said.
City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Astoria) described these tactics as a nationwide problem.
“There are these roving groups of gypsies, for lack of a better word, that have no ties to a specific area but commit these types of crimes until the community becomes aware of it and then they move on before they get caught,” he said, noting there was no evidence the pair were part of the Romani ethnic group.
George and Demetro are suspected in at least 10 of these burglaries, Vallone said, six of which occurred in the Bronx, one in Middle Village and two in Astoria.
On Jan. 18 an elderly Middle Village couple was victimized by two men posing as Con Ed workers, police in the 104th Precinct said.
The suspects rang the doorbell of the couple’s home on 60th Drive, saying they had to investigate a possible leak in the home, came inside and stole $900, said Robert Holden, president of the Juniper Park Civic Association.
Ann Bruno, president of the 114th Precinct Community Council in Astoria, said her neighbor was almost victimized by a similar criminal who knocked on the woman’s door and posed as an inspector from a construction site across the street.
“The man who knocked on her door said that he wanted to come in and check her basement to see if she had any water,” she said. “She found him in her bedroom. He was trying to open up a metal case, but she went after him. She started hitting him on the head and she chased him out.”
Vallone said the best thing for people to do is not to let them in if the company had not scheduled an appointment.
“They should at a minimum get proper ID, but I would recommend calling the company to confirm the employees actually work for them,” he said.
Police in the 104th did make a high-profile burglary arrest last week, although it had nothing to do with uniformed inspectors.
A little after 1:30 p.m. Jan. 27, a neighbor noticed two men walking to the back of a house on 69th Lane in Middle Village carrying a duffel bag. When a resident of the home was alerted, he returned to the property to find both floors ransacked and jewelry and other valuables missing, police said.
A canvass of the neighborhood turned up Corona residents Jonathan Ramos, 17, and Eduardo Santiago, 19, police said.
Officers found a laptop computer, a video camera, assorted jewelry and a screwdriver in the men’s duffel bag, according to a criminal complaint filed by the Queens district attorney’s office.
Both men were arraigned on felony burglary charges last Thursday with bail set at $25,000 each, the DA’s office said. If convicted, both men face up to 15 years in prison.
Reach reporter Jeremy Walsh by e-mail at jewalsh@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4564.
