By Patrick Donachie
Police were continuing to investigate a brazen burglary at a Rego Park bank.
An employee made a startling discovery early Monday morning upon learning that an undetermined number of suspects had cut a hole in the roof of the building over the weekend and raided an unknown number of security deposit boxes, the NYPD said.
Police responded to a call from the Maspeth Federal Savings Bank at 64-19 Woodhaven Blvd. at about 8:30 a.m. The employee had discovered the hole when opening the premises, according to the NYPD.
Police at the scene said the suspects neatly cut through a fence in the back of the property and used a ladder to climb up to the roof. Officers said the suspects brought a large black plywood box up to the roof and worked to create the hole underneath it so people in surrounding houses would not be able to see them. After the suspects broke in, they retrieved a number of contents from safety deposit boxes, according to NYPD officers at the scene.
“They went through people’s personal lives,” one officer said.
Police conducted a canvass of the area adjacent to the building and the crime was still under investigation. The burglary could have occurred at any point over the weekend and could not confirm what contents had been stolen from the bank, according to the NYPD.
The Rego Park branch will remain closed during the course of a forensic investigation, according to a statement released by Maspeth Federal Savings Bank. The bank said it would inform customers if their safe deposit boxes had been affected and would alert customers when they would be able to get access to the boxes.
“We are hopeful that the breach will have only affected a limited portion of the boxes rented on site and for those that were breached that some of the items may have been left behind by the perpetrators and be recoverable after the police finish investigating,” the bank said. “This is an unfortunate day for the community, but we are hopeful the authorities will bring the perpetrators to justice.”
Reach reporter Patrick Donachie by e-mail at pdona
