The cheeky burglar who allegedly broke into a Kew Gardens Hills synagogue and toasted a security camera while swilling stolen booze from a plastic cup had some drinking buddies with him during an impromptu happy hour in December.
The NYPD released surveillance images of the suspect on Jan. 23 and announced a day later that the perpetrator and one of his accomplices were taken into custody and booked at the 107th Precinct in Fresh Meadows more than a month earlier. A third man was arrested on Jan. 15, while a fourth suspect remains at large, police said.
Khanan Khavasov, 25, of 75th Avenue in Kew Gardens Hills, was arrested on Dec.18 and arraigned in Queens Criminal Court later in the day on a complaint charging him with burglary, criminal trespass and petit larceny. Khavasov lived just four blocks away from Yeshiva Hashevaynu, located at 144-49 72nd Dr., and had been inside with three friends during the afternoon of Saturday, Dec. 7, when the rabbi told them to leave.
According to the criminal complaint, the group complied, and later, Khavasov allegedly used a coat hangar to manipulate the lock on a basement door. Once inside, they went to a kitchen area in the cellar, helped themselves to food and opened two bottles of liquor that they drank using plastic cups. While still holding the coat hangar, Kahvasov walked up to a security camera, raised his cup of stolen booze and appeared to propose a toast. Following his arrest, he told a detective from the 107th Precinct that it was him on the surveillance footage and that he did not break any laws when they ate and drank.
“Yes we took the food and alcohol,” Khavasov said. “But I did not think [it] was a crime because it is donated to the synagogue by the community.”
He then admitted he was the one that broke into the building.
“I used the hanger to manipulate the lock to the basement,” he said, according to the criminal complaint.
Abokhay Badalov, 25, of Kildare Drive in Jamaica Hills, was busted on Dec. 17, and Michael Isakov, 19, of Pennsylvania Avenue in the Starrett City section of Brooklyn, was collared on Jan. 15.
Badalov was arraigned in Queens Criminal Court on Dec. 18 and Isakov was arraigned on Jan. 16. Like their ringleader Khavasov, Badalov and Isakov were charged with criminal trespass, burglary and petit larceny.
The charges were not bail-eligible. Khavasov was released on his own recognizance and ordered to return to court on Feb. 5. Isakov was given supervised release, and his return date was set for March 13. Badalov was released on his own recognizance and ordered to return to court on Feb. 24.
The fourth suspect remains at large, and a reward of up to $3,500 is offered for information leading to his arrest.
Anyone with information regarding this burglary investigation 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.
