Crime & Safety

Man Pleads Guilty to Greenburgh Home Invasion

Police solve a two-year-old crime using remote computer software.

A Bronx man who forced his way into a Greenburgh home in 2009, tied up the homeowners at knifepoint and proceeded to rob the house has pled guilty to first degree robbery, a felony.

Victor Hernandez, a 27-year-old from Fox Street in the Bronx, will be sentenced Jan. 24, 2013, said Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore.

Hernandez and two unidentified accomplices tied up the two residents -- a husband and wife in their 60s -- before taking off with cash, jewelry, a flat-screen television and a laptop.

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The couple's son, a computer professional, had installed remote-use software on the laptop before it was swiped, DiFiore said. Using the software, the Greenburgh Police Department and the Organized Crime and Criminal Enterprise Bureau of the DA's office learned Hernandez had given the stolen property to his girlfriend.

Police were able to view several photos of Hernandez on the machine.

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"Advances in computer technology, tenacious detective work... resulted in this serial home invader being identified, subsequently located and indicted for a truly frightening and violent home invasion," DiFiore said.

When police sought out Hernandez earlier this year, they learned he was in a Michigan jail on unrelated burglary charges.

Hernandez had also been incarcerated in Indiana for burglary, and deported twice. A warrant for his arrest was issued on January 23, 2012.

Assistant District Attorney Livia Rodriguez prosecuted the case.

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