Good Samaritan Helps Cops Catch ‘Career Burglar’ on 11th Street

Police arrested a 52-year-old man after a woman caught him red handed as he was trying to steal a bag full of jewelry from her 11th Street apartment on July 30.

The 41-year-old victim told police that she was in her apartment doing housework, between Fifth and Sixth avenues, when she realized someone had entered her home at around 10:30 a.m. She saw the man, a 52-year-old Hispanic male, carrying a bag. She approached him and then wrestled him for the bag. As it fell, the woman’s jewelry spilled out of it and then the man ran out of the front door at around 10:35 a.m.

The victim chased after the burglar on to the street, and while she kept him in her sight, she screamed for help. Then, a “Good Samaritan” caught and subdued the man and held him until the police arrived and arrested him.

The Commanding Officer of the 78th Precinct, Captain Michael Ameri, applauded them for working together, catching a criminal and keeping their community safe.

“This was a good arrest, this man is a career burglar with six prior burglary arrests,” Captain Ameri told Patch.

Ameri also said that it was a great example of members of the community helping one another in a time of need.

“A bystander helped this woman, he held the perp until we came. The point is that we need help from the community,” Ameri said.

This was at least the fifth burglar arrested this year, according to Ameri.

“With arrests like this, we are chipping away at the number of burglaries,” Ameri said, explaining that burglaries have decreased 38 percent this month compared to last year. This July had 9 compared to 22 burglaries in July 2011.

The 78th precinct was able break  this year from  to  after . At the height of the spree, burglaries jumped 200 percent in March with 15 incidents, but now Ameri said that burglaries are well on their way down, only up 31 percent as of late July.

“This guy makes his living stealing jewelry from people’s homes and selling them,” Ameri said. “These are the kinds of burglars we’re looking for and will help make the neighborhood safer when they’re taken off the streets.”