UPPER EAST SIDE — A man who dressed as a construction worker to get inside residential buildings and steal electronics, money and jewelry was arrested last week, police said.
Gerald Jackson, 53, wore an orange construction vest and told residents he was at their buildings to do work, according to police.
Once inside, he searched for unlocked apartments and swiped small electronics devices, as well as money, credit cards and jewelry, the NYPD said.
Video surveillance captured Jackson stealing a wallet with credit cards from an apartment at 22 E. 60th St. on May 31, and then pulling the same move again two days later at an apartment at 505 Park Ave., according to prosecutors. Police are also eyeing him for two other burlgaries, they said.
He was busted on June 11 by plainclothes officers who recognized him from building surveillance, police said. Officers watched him enter two buildings at East 87th Street and two buildings on East 84th Street before arresting him in front of 155 E. 84th St. about 2 p.m., police said. Jackson was also seen leaving 165 E. 85th St., the DA said.
He was charged with grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property in connection with the incidents on May 31 and June 2, as well as a count of criminal trespass, prosecutors added.
Jackson, whose bail was set at $5,000, was scheduled to appear in court Tuesday. His lawyer did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Other notable crimes that occurred recently in the 19th Precinct include:
► A work truck containing thousands of dollars worth of tools and copper piping was stolen in front of a building on East 74th Street near Fifth Avenue last week, police said.
The victim parked his truck in front of a building where he was doing work on June 12 when he came downstairs about noon to find the vehicle gone, police said.
Using the truck’s GPS, the victim tracked his vehicle to the 79th Precinct, which covers Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn, the NYPD said. The victim saw three suspects loading merchandise into his parked truck and called police. When officers arrived, the suspects fled on foot, police said.
Police were able to recover the victim’s truck, but he lost about $1,500 in tools and supplies. Police are looking for three men in their 30s in connection with the case.
► A thief stole a laptop from an unlocked apartment on the seventh floor of 47 E. 85th St. last week, police said.
The victim left her apartment around 5:40 a.m. on June 12 to go to work, police said. When the victim’s daughter returned to the apartment around 2:30 p.m., she noticed that the laptop was missing and called police, according to the NYPD.
There were no signs of forced entry, and the victim said she had left the front door and windows to the apartment unlocked, police said. The laptop was valued at $1,200.
Police did not have a description of the suspect.
