LENOX HILL — A burglar climbed into the unlocked windows of five apartments and snatched thousands of dollars worth of clothes, jewelry and electronics — including one home that he hit twice in just over a month, according to the NYPD.
The suspect hit five apartments in two separate buildings — one at First Avenue and East 65th Street, and another around the corner at East 65th Street, between First and York avenues — by climbing onto scaffolding or fire escapes to get to the windows, police said.
Investigators do not yet have a description of the suspect, but the 19th Precinct has posted signs in the neighborhood warning residents to lock their windows, especially when construction work is going on and there is scaffolding set up.
The thefts all occurred between Nov. 4 and Dec. 29, and included the following incidents, according to authorities:
► Residents of one First Avenue apartment reported that their $900 Spiewak parka, $520 Red Wing boots and $150 Puma jersey went missing sometime between Nov. 4 and Dec. 21. Their window could not lock and there was scaffolding up around the building for facade work, police said.
► Neighbors of the same building reported that their earrings and a pair of sunglasses went missing from their home with an unlocked window between Dec. 22 and Dec. 23. A laptop that had been left on a resident's bed had also been moved to the couch, police said.
► A thief crawled through the bedroom window of an East 65th Street apartment while the owner was away on vacation between Dec. 20 and Dec. 26, police said. The suspect snatched a $300 Playstation 4, two controllers worth $120 and the games "Overwatch," "FIFA 2017," "Call of Duty" and "Uncharted." The thief also charged $15 to the victim's PayPal account, which was connected to the game console, police said.
► On Dec. 29, at about 6 a.m., the burglar returned to the same First Avenue apartment where the suspect had previously stolen sunglasses and earrings, but fled empty-handed after a resident awoke to find the person trying to get into the home through a window and screamed, police said.
► Just minutes later, at 6:15 a.m., the burglar tried to break into an apartment in the East 65th Street building, but fled when was a woman woke up as the suspect was opening her living room window, which was attached to a fire escape, police said.
► Then, between 8 a.m. and 12:40 p.m. on the same day, the burglar broke into another apartment in the First Avenue building by climbing in through a window via a fire escape, making off with $100 cash and €570 in Euros, police said.
