auto break-in on 44th Drive
Sept. 9, 2013 By Christian Murray
The police believe that they have nabbed a man responsible for a large number of neighborhood auto break-ins.
Long Island City—from Court Square through Hunters Point—has been subject to about 60 auto break-ins in recent months, according to Captain Brian Hennessy, the commanding officer of the 108 police precinct. However, an August 24 bust has brought that spike to a halt, he said.
One victim, in an e-mail, wrote about an August 19 incident by his building. “My car, along with two others on my block (44th Dr between 21st and 23rd Streets) was burglarized. The thief smashed our windows, ransacked our car interiors and took whatever items of value he/she could find.”
But around the time of that break-in, the police were able to get their hands on some video evidence taken from the rooftop of a building on 44th Drive (between 21st and 23rd Streets). While the video was grainy, the police were able to get a bit of an outline of who the perpetrator was and how he broke into the vehicles.
Hennessy said the police caught the perpetrator breaking into the cars by wrapping his fist up in clothing and punching the windows.
They arrested Rafael Medina, a 45-year-old from the Bronx, who was out on parole when he was busted. He is back in prison.
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6 Comments
I’m just happy the LIC Post has published some information about the trend and the fact that this guy was caught. I agree with Mary73, the fact that the police department is telling us not to leave valuables in our car, as a primary method of deterrence, is disheartening to say the least.
A sustainable response needs to be implemented by the 108th precinct because I suspect that even with Mr. Medina off the streets, the lack of surveillance in the area will continue to contribute to a large number of vehicles being burglarized in the days to come.
I got this on my Birth Day.
https://twitter.com/objectgraph/status/353846529817198592
After GEICO berified my address and DOB, the operator was like “Happy Birthday, Sir! I mean, I’m sorry about this …”
I still need him to pay my window frame and parking lot fee.
happened to me 3 times in about 4yrs.
Finally! Now they need to nab the others. Can the police get my stereo back which was stolen over 4th of July weekend? How about some $$ for my window too? I see a smashed window almost every day walking through the neighborhood – sad.
Actually up until about last week it was happening by the waterfront area too, so enough already.
The smashed car windows are still happening as recently as yesterday, 9/8. The location was 11th Street between 45 Avenue and 45th road. I’m sure if this happened down in the new waterfront communities there would be politicians and police patrols everywhere. Instead, we got flyers on our windshields telling us to take our valuables out of our car. I guess we’re on our own as usual.