At least six apartments in Flushing have been broken into within the last month by burglars who enter through fire escapes, police said.
Cops at the 109th Precinct say the thieves enter apartment complexes through building lobbies, make their way up to the roof and work their way down.
“A lot of the time in these buildings, the fire escapes are in the back of the building. Driving by, we don’t see if somebody’s walking on the fire escape,” said Anthony LoVerme, the precinct’s crime prevention officer.
A resident at a 42-33 Kissena Boulevard complex said she came home to find a man climbing out of her bedroom window and using the fire escape to make off with her Louis Vuitton bag on February 4, LoVerme said.
And another resident at 42-30 Union Street said burglars stole her iPad and $13,000 in cash on February 12, LoVerme said. The front door was still locked when the victim came home, but the kitchen window leading to the fire escape was open, the victim told cops.
“Nobody should ever be using the fire escape,” LoVerme said. “Don’t just assume that maybe somebody just locked themselves out of their apartments and they’re just trying to get in through the fire escape.”
Building owners and property managers can call the precinct at 718-321-2268 to enroll in its trespass program, which thwarts loiterers and burglaries with more police presence inside buildings.
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