Brooklyn man charged in 11 Queens burglaries

A Brooklyn man has been charged with breaking into 11 homes in the Forest Hills, Ozone Park, South Ozone Park and Howard Beach neighborhoods of Queens and stealing thousands of dollars worth of property.

Mario Girau, 28, was initially arrested in connection to a September burglary of a Tahoe Street residence in Ozone Park in September, according to District Attorney Richard Brown, but was later tied to the other 10 incidents after police recovered stolen items from his home.

According to the criminal complaint, said Brown, officers assigned to the Burglary Larceny Apprehension Surveillance Team were investigating a pattern of residential burglaries last month when they arrested Girau for the Tahoe Street break-in.

Following that arrest, a search warrant was obtained for his home where police found items which were later identified as the property of 10 victims whose homes had been burglarized. Those burglaries all took place in 2013, with the exception of one which occurred in 2011.

Some of the items recovered included jewelry, cameras and computer equipment. According to Brown, investigators located the owner of one of the cameras by finding the bride who appeared in wedding photos take with that camera and discovering that some of her guests were burglary victims.

“People’s homes are their sanctuaries and this defendant is alleged to have crossed a very serious line in entering those homes and stealing personal and valuable items,” said Brown.

Girau was charged with burglary, criminal possession of stolen property and possession of burglar’s tools for the Tahoe Street break-in.

As of Wednesday afternoon, he was awaiting arraignment in Queens Criminal Court on multiple counts of burglary, criminal possession of stolen property and criminal possession of a weapon in connection to the 10 other burglaries. He faces 150 years in prison if convicted.

RECOMMENDED STORIES