Brooklyn Heights Burglaries Spike as Part of Precinct-Level Pattern: Cops

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — The police are seeking whom they believe to be one or two suspects in a rash of burglaries that have all happened in broad daylight in the Brooklyn Heights area in the past three weeks, they confirmed to Patch.

In one burglary on Thursday, Dec. 29, between 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., someone stole $5,250 worth of property from a house on Willow Street, cops said. The suspect stole wireless speakers, an Apple TV, gold jewelry, a TV, Coach handbags, antique binoculars, digital cameras and camera lenses, the police said.

A community affairs officer in precinct 84 confirmed the burglary pattern to Patch and said the precinct had dedicated undercover cops around the clock to finding the suspects.

The officer said that residents can request a free security survey in which an NYPD officer comes to their house or apartment, analyzes the security level there and provides recommendations on how to make the home safer. To schedule a survey, you can call your local crime prevention officer or precinct.

Peter Bray, head of the civic group at the Brooklyn Heights Association, told Patch he received an email last week from the inspector general of the 84th police precinct, which oversees Brooklyn Heights, saying there had been a spike in robberies in the previous two weeks, Bray told Patch.

Bray said while he hasn't heard anything straight from community members whom have been robbed, the inspector general told him there were seven break-ins in Brooklyn Heights in just the two weeks before he had sent the email to Bray. The burglaries were in different locations in Brooklyn Heights and not just targeting one street, Bray said.

In some of the break-ins there was forced entry, Bray said. In others there was no forced entry, and it appeared as if someone climbed through an unlocked window, perhaps via climbing a fire escape. Most of the break-ins occurred on weekdays during the workday, Bray said.

The deputy inspector had asked Bray to alert community members to the instances and to be vigilant if they saw anyone who appeared to be doing something suspicious. He also asked Bray to tell Brooklyn Heights residents to lock their windows and doors to prevent theft.

"This is a definite spike in burglaries," Bray said. "If you've lived in New York for a while, it's an extraordinarily safe city now, but it may be that people have gotten to be a little too complacent, and that the advice that was given, lock your windows and lock your doors when you go out, is really common sense."

Bray added that he would recommend not putting any valuables near a window where a burglar could potentially see them.

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