Police Arrest Men Suspected of String of Cortlandt Burglaries

The following information was provided by the New York State Police. It does not indicate a conviction.

On Oct. 14 the state police in Cortlandt arrested Robert Jakaitis, 27, and William Desantes, 26, both of Cortlandt, for several counts of second degree burglary, felonies.

The arrests came following an intensive state police investigation into multiple daytime residential burglaries in the Lake Allendale section of the Town of Cortlandt.

During the last three weeks, several residents of the Lake Allendale area reported that their during the daytime when no one was home and cash and jewelry was stolen.  In two of the burglaries, residents were either home or came home when their house was being burglarized, scaring off the suspects. 

Through an intensive investigation involving the state police aviation unit, both state police and Westchester County police department blood hounds, state police Forensic Identification Unit and both the uniform and BCI members from SP Cortlandt, Jakaitis and Desantes were developed as suspects.

Surveillance of targeted area ended with the arrest of both Jakaitis and Desantes.  Some of the stolen jewelry has been recovered at a local pawn shop. 

Jakaitis, of #4 Aldar Court, was charged with seven counts of second degree burglary and Desantes, of #14 North 4^th Street, was charged with two counts of second degree burglary.

They are both currently being held at state police Cortlandt pending arraignment in the Town of Cortlandt Justice court.  Desantes was additionally charged with two counts of second degree forgery, felonies, and one count of first degree Offering A False Written Instrument For Filing, a felony, for giving a false name during his processing.  A search of his real name, revealed that he is currently wanted on warrants from the Town of Cortlandt for Driving While Intoxicated and in New York City for seventh degree Criminal Possession Of A Controlled Substance.  Anyone with information regarding the above defendants are encouraged to contact the State Police BCI at 914-788-8044.