The NYPD is continuing to take measures to combat Sandy-related thefts, as burglaries went up during the week of the storm.
Though burglaries only increased about 11 percent compared to the same week last year, it was the only crime to go up between October 29, the day Sandy hit, and November 4.
In the 100th and 101st Precincts in Queens, which cover some of the superstorm’s hardest hit areas in the Rockaway Peninsula, the uptick in thefts was much more dramatic.
In the 100th, burglaries were up from 2 to 16 from the same week last year and in the 101st there were 33 burglaries, up from zero.
According to authorities, burglaries account for most of the 226 Sandy-related arrests.
With those stats in mind, the NYPD has continued to assign extra police on extended tours of duty to the Rockaways, Breezy Point, Coney Island and Staten Island.
The NYPD has also brought in 500 light towers to neighborhoods still without power and are helping to illuminate those areas with police car and helicopter lights.
Authorities are also warning residents about automobile frauds and thefts related to Sandy.
Tow truck drivers are allegedly taking storm-damaged vehicles without permission, then storing them in private auto pounds and charging exorbitant fees between $1,000 and $2,300 when the owners try to recover their cars, said police.
Additionally, the NYPD said that in other flood disasters, fraudsters will take vehicles that have been declared total losses and instead of scrapping them, will refurbish and resell the cars.
