Police from the 109th Precinct in Flushing are looking for a burglary crew that broke into two homes on the same Whitestone block four days apart.
The first break-in went down at around 3 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 1, when a group of nine young men entered a home in the vicinity of 2nd Avenue and 147th Place by breaking a living room window. Once inside the residence, a block east of Francis Lewis Park, the burglars allegedly removed $25,000 in cash and a bracelet, police said Thursday.
The perpetrators ran from the house and piled into a gray Toyota Sienna that sped off in an unknown direction. There were no injuries reported.
The next home invasion occurred on the morning of Sunday, Jan. 5. A surveillance camera captured the gang swarming onto a porch at a different home on the same street at around 1 a.m. and smashing through a front window with a hammer. Once inside, one of the perps used the hammer to allegedly strike a 37-year-old man who confronted them while another assailant pulled out a knife and stabbed him in the back, stole three gold rings and other jewelry and clothing. The value of the stolen property has not been determined yet, according to an NYPD spokeswoman.
The crew ran to the gray Toyota Sienna and drove off in an unknown direction. The victim sustained a puncture wound in his back. EMS responded to the crime scene and rushed him to New York-Presbyterian Queens Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition.
The NYPD released the surveillance video and photos of each suspect that was captured outside the second home. One wore a black face covering, a gray hooded sweatshirt over a black T-shirt. A second man had dark locs and wore a gray winter jacket with a fur-lined hood and a black facemask. The third man wore a black bubble jacket with a black head covering, hiding his face, black gloves and he had a red Adidas bag. The fourth young man wore a black jacket over a black hoodie with a black facemask. The fifth suspect wore a gray hooded bubble jacket over a black hooded sweatshirt and a white surgical mask. The sixth crew member had black hair and wore a white facemask and a blue jacket and the seventh had black hair and wore a black facemask and a black jacket over a gray hoodie. The suspect, who could be seen in the surveillance video smashing the front window with a hammer, has dark curly hair and wore a white facemask and a dark winter jacket. The ninth crew member had black hair and wore a white surgical mask and a dark hooded sweatshirt.
A reward of up to $3,500 is offered for information leading to their arrest.
Anyone with information regarding these home invasions 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 confidential.
Through Jan. 5, the 109th Precinct has reported ten burglaries so far this year, four more than the six reported at the same point in 2024, an increase of 66.7%, according to the most recent CompStat report. Felony assaults are also on the rise in the precinct, with seven reported so far this year, two more than the five reported at the same point last year, an increase of 40%, according to CompStat.
