'Career Criminal' Burglarized Several North Shore Homes: Nassau DA

MINEOLA, NY — A man was arraigned this week on multiple burglary and attempted burglary charges in seven incidents along Nassau County's North Shore, prosecutors announced.

Vincent Dougherty, 64, was arraigned Wednesday on three counts of second-degree burglary and four counts of second-degree attempted burglary.

Bail was set at $1 million cash, $1 million bond and $5 million partially secured bond. He is due back in court on May 30.

"Vincent Dougherty is an alleged career criminal with burglaries spanning over decades. Over the course of several months in 2021, this defendant allegedly lurked in the backyards of multiple homes in exclusive North Shore neighborhoods, gained access through unlocked doors or by smashing windows, and stole luxury items," Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said. “Dougherty is also charged with attempting to burglarize four more homes in Glen Head, Syosset, and Old Westbury."

Each of the burglaries took place in the early morning hours at homes that abutted public properties, parkland, or wooded areas, she said.

The D.A.'s office said, on May 8, 2021, at a home on Wenwood Drive in Brookville, Dougherty entered through an unlocked door, stole a Hermes bag and fled. On July 19, Dougherty allegedly entered an unlocked door at home in Old Brookville and stole a Chanel bag.

At a home in Muttontown, on Sept. 11, 2021, he allegedly broke a kitchen window with a rock and stole the homeowner's wallet, Donnelly said.

Dougherty is a discretionary persistent felony offender. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years to life in prison on each completed burglary.