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Burglar Told Police He Was Too High to Remember Home Break-Ins, DA Says

By Katie Honan | October 21, 2016 3:03pm | Updated on October 24, 2016 8:54am

CORONA — A man who stole iPhones, video games and ID cards from multiple homes and cars during a burglary spree last week claimed he was too high the night of the crimes to remember anything, prosecutors said.

Christian Carrion-Rivera, 22, was arrested for breaking into cars and homes on a half-block stretch near Junction Boulevard between 46th and Alstyne avenues on Oct. 15 and into the early-morning hours of Oct. 16, according to police.

Investigators are now looking into whether he is behind a recent spike in burglaries in the 110th Precinct, where there were 33 incidents in the most recent 28-day period compared to just 10 during the same time last year — a whopping 230 percent increase. 

The spree started when Carrion-Rivera snagged a checkbook and vehicle registration from a car near Junction Boulevard before 10 p.m., police said. 

Over the course of the next five hours, he broke into four more homes and cars while trying to get into many more, according to a criminal complaint.

But when he was arrested by officers from the 110th Precinct early on Oct. 16, he told police he didn't remember any of it.

"I was high off of three sticks of Xanax and drunk off alcohol, I don't remember last night," he told officers, according to the complaint. 

Carrion-Rivera allegedly also tried breaking into a home on Junction Boulevard, but was stopped by a woman who screamed for her son, yelling "there's a man trying to get into the house through the living room window," the complaint said.

The same homeowner chased after the suspect, who was clutching a backpack belonging to the victim that she had left inside her car, police said. 

During the chase, the suspect dropped the checkbook and car registration he took earlier from another house, police said. 

At around midnight, a different victim on 46th Avenue woke up after hearing a noise coming from the back of her home, the complaint said. 

She went to investigate and found her Nintendo video-game system, iPhones and identification cards gone, according to police. 

At 1 a.m., another homeowner arrived at his house on 46th Avenueto find his back door open and the suspect in his living room with the man's passport in his possession, police said.

After going upstairs to check on his family, the victim ran back out to chase Carrion-Rivera, who he saw saw try to enter multiple yards on the block. 

Carrion-Rivera changed clothes in between burglary attempts, police said, putting on jackets of different colors and even leaving some clothing in the backyard of a home he attempted to break in to. 

He was caught shortly after the last burglary and was arraigned Oct. 17 on charges of criminal possession of stolen property, petit larceny, unauthorized use of a vehicle, burglary and attempted burglary, according to court records.

He was ordered held on $500,000 bail and is due back in court on Oct. 31, court records show. Information on his court-appointed lawyer was not immediately available.