FLATIRON — A serial burglar broke into at least eight buildings across Manhattan between November and June before he was finally caught in the act, according to police and court records.
Alphonso Williamson, 54, stole computers, cash and clothing from businesses in Chelsea and the Flatiron, committing the crimes over the span of six months before he was caught trespassing in a building on West 21st Street on June 15, police said.
The first crime in Williamson’s spree occurred on Nov. 17, just after 7:30 p.m., when Williamson strolled into a building on West 27th Street and swiped an Apple computer, according to a criminal complaint.
Over the next six months he struck again seven more times, until June 15, at about 4:20 p.m., when a plainclothes officer noticed him casing several commercial storefronts, police said. Williamson eventually walked into 51 W. 21st St. between Fifth and Sixth avenues and took an elevator to the fourth floor, where officers confronted him, according to a police report.
Prosecutors charged Williamson with eight counts of burglary and one count of criminal trespass, according to a spokeswoman for the Manhattan District Attorney’s office. A judge ordered him held on $50,000 bail and he is currently being held at Manhattan Detention Complex pending an Aug. 4 court date, records show.
After reviewing video footage of a number of break-ins and thefts in the area, police connected Williamson to the following crimes:
► On Jan. 6, at about 12 p.m., Williamson entered a building on East 25th Street, went into a closet and tried to steal a jacket but was stopped by an employee at the location, according to a police report. He put the coat back in the closet and managed to flee without being caught, according to a police report.
► On Jan. 28 at about 6 p.m., Williamson opened an unlocked rear window to an apartment on East 25th Street and stole a laptop, an iWatch and several jackets, according to a criminal complaint.
► On Feb. 4 at about 12:30 p.m., Williamson was seen on security footage leaving a building on West 25th Street carrying a laptop partially concealed under his coat, according to a police report.
► On Feb. 10 at about 6:20 p.m., Williamson swiped three computers from the front desk of an 11th-floor office in a building on West 26th Street, according to a criminal complaint.
►On Feb. 21 at about 4 p.m., the suspect stole an Apple computer and $2,100 in cash from a building on West 21st Street, police said.
► Williamson was seen on video on March 29 at about 9 p.m. carrying a number of items from a building on West 17th Street, and employees of the location told police they had been robbed of five Apple computers, according to a criminal complaint.
► On April 9 at about 5 p.m., Williamson was seen on security footage leaving a building on West 35th Street with a bag, police said. Employees of an office in the building told police that three Apple computers had gone missing around that time, according to a criminal complaint.
A lawyer for Williamson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
