A man who police say burglarized homes in a business suit after posing as a children’s nonprofit employee has been arrested, according to the 111th Precinct.
Police believe a 26-year-old man from northeast Queens was behind a spike in burglaries between July and August.
The suspect, whose name is being withheld by The Courier, was a “well-dressed” man who knocked on doors in the middle of the day to gauge if homes were empty, according to police.
He would talk about his nonprofit — and then leave — if someone answered the door, authorities said, and would burglarize the home if it was vacant.
“Your burglar isn’t always going to be who you traditionally think,” said Sgt. Nick Gravino. “They don’t always look like that.”
Gravino and Officer Evan Ostrofsky were honored as the precinct’s “Cops of the Month” for their August 8 arrest of the apparent burglar.
“Before they made the arrest, we were hit hard by burglaries from July,” said Capt. Derick Seneus, the precinct’s new executive officer. “That’s when the guy they arrested came out of jail and burglaries started going up. After they made that arrest, they started going down.”
Gravino said he had personally arrested the suspect twice for burglary-related incidents before the August collar.
He said he and Ostrofsky saw the suspect walking in Auburndale, when they noted suspicious behavior.
“We watched him, he disappeared down an alleyway, comes out a few minutes later carrying a bag,” Gravino said. “We pretty much knew what he was up to at that point.”
This was the perp’s third arrest for burglary-related incidents in 14 months, police said.
Seneus, meanwhile, was promoted about two months ago. He has spent about two weeks at the 111th Precinct after being transferred from the 114th based in Astoria. “I was told that the 111th is the best in the borough,” he said. “So far, I think it’s true.”
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