Monthly Crime Report: Police Investigating Team of Commercial Burglars

While it was a good month for Suffolk County’s First Precinct, according to Inspector Gerard Gigante, the squad is investigating a group of commercial burglars, and has stepped up surveillance efforts to nab the group.

Police officials explained what they’re doing and what they’re calling a “disturbing trend” of commercial break-ins to the residents gathered for the meeting Wednesday night.

Investigators believe there might be a single band of perpetrators who are cutting through the rooftops of small businesses late at night or in the early hours of the morning, stealing cash, cigarettes and whatever they can get their hands on, and exiting quickly from these establishments.

Officials noted these have been occurring particularly in West Babylon, but they are spread across the precinct.

“This seems to be a pattern,” Deputy Inspector Thomas Palmieri said. “It started in mid-August, and it’s still out there. I’m confident that it’s one group doing these burglaries, and when we catch them they’ll stop. Their luck is going to run out.”

He said that special surveillance procedures have been put in place in an attempt to nab the perpetrators.

Officials then gave residents a rundown of arrests in the past month.

“We made a lot of robbery arrests, and arrested a burglar in North Lindenhurst,” Gigante noted.

The burglary arrest to which the precinct’s commanding officer was referring was that of Alfred Giglio, 22, who allegedly was involved in six residential burglaries in North Lindenhurst.

According to Palmieri, Giglio was picked up on a warrant.

“Hopefully he’ll be out of service for awhile,” he said.

Giglio was charged with six counts of burglary in the second degree (read more about it ).

This burglary collar was among a total of 627 arrests in the past month, prompting Palmieri to note that theirs is considered a “very active precinct.”

In addition, between September 21 and October 19, in total, there were nine robbery arrests, according to precinct officials, in an area which includes Babylon Village (one arrest), West Babylon (one arrest), Lindenhurst, North Lindenhurst, Copiague, Amityville, North Amityville, parts of Wyandanch and parts of Deer Park.

That’s out of 28 reported robberies (eight in Wyandanch, four in North Amityville, four in North Babylon, two in West Babylon, two in Babylon and one in Lindenhurst).

There were 35 residential burglaries, including eight in West Babylon and six in Lindenhurst, two in Babylon and one each in North Lindenhurst and North Babylon.

“A lot of these are daytime,“ Palmieri said. “The statistics are up slightly from last year, and a lot of them are in foreclosures – burglars go for copper pipes.”

Of 10 stolen vehicles reported in the district, two were from Lindenhurst. Other arrests, precinct-wide, included two in Wyandanch for operating a vehicle with a gun in the car.

Two establishments in Copiague were shut down for alcohol license violations, after complaints of activities “behind the stores,” police officials said.

Two commercial establishments – one in and one in – were cited in underage stings targeting nine locations, for selling beer to minors.

Aside from 23 DWI arrests in the precinct, traffic violations – particularly driving while – remains a of the precinct.

“We issued two to three hundred tickets a month,” Palmieri said. “That’s the highest in the county. We want to control anything that distracts drivers.”

By the Numbers
Robberies: 28
Lindenhurst: 1
North Lindenhurst: 0
Babylon: 2
West Babylon: 2

Residential Burglaries: 35
Lindenhurst: 6
North Lindenhurst: 1
Babylon: 2
West Babylon: 8

Commercial Burglaries:
Lindenhurst: 1
North Lindenhurst: 1
Babylon: 0
West Babylon: 12

Stolen Vehicles: 10
Lindenhurst: 2
North Lindenhurst: 0
Babylon: 0
West Babylon: 0 

Every month the First Precinct holds a community meeting, and provides residents and local civic organizations insight on recent crimes, current trends and any new information relating to the Suffolk Police Department (SCPD).