Police from the 107th Precinct in Fresh Meadows are looking for two young men who broke into Carnesecca Arena at the campus of St. John’s University in Hillcrest on Tuesday night.
The suspects slipped into the office of basketball coach Rick Pitino, where they stole his personal memorabilia, according to a source familiar with the investigation. The alleged burglars entered Pitino’s office at around 8 p.m. and took a basketball, a ceremonial sword in a scabbard and a bullhorn, which are estimated to be worth around $400.
“The University shared surveillance footage with the NYPD and is assisting in the ongoing investigation,” SJU spokesman Brian Browne said.
The video shows the two men, who appear to be in their 20s, making their way through the hallway outside of Pitino’s office, which overlooks the Red Storm basketball court. One suspect was holding the sword and had dark hair, a beard and a mustache. He wore a black t-shirt, tan shorts and black sneakers. His accomplice had dark hair and a thinner beard and was swinging the stolen bullhorn while talking on a cell phone. He wore a black t-shirt, blue jeans and white sneakers.
Once outside the arena, the two perpetrators took off on a moped heading westbound on Union Turnpike. There were no reported injuries during the heist, police said.
There are no arrests and the investigation remains ongoing.
Anyone with information regarding this burglary is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, or on X (the platform formerly known as Twitter) @NYPDTips. All calls and messages are kept confidential.
Through Aug. 18, the 107th Precinct has reported 132 burglaries so far in 2024, 30 fewer than the 172 reported at the same point last year, a decline of 23.3%, according to the most recent CompStat report.
