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Brooklyn Heights Burglaries Continue to Climb in 2017, NYPD Says

By Alexandra Leon | January 12, 2017 4:20pm
 Police are warning Brooklyn Heights residents to lock their doors and windows after a recent string of burglaries in the neighborhood.
Police are warning Brooklyn Heights residents to lock their doors and windows after a recent string of burglaries in the neighborhood.
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Flickr/Tom Belte

BROOKLYN — Burglaries continue to rise in Brooklyn Heights, with seven incidents reported in the neighborhood during the first week of the year following a sharp increase to close out 2016, police said.

The burglaries occurred at residences and businesses on Remsen Street, Montague Street, Hicks Street, Henry Street, State Street and Sidney Place between Jan. 2 and Jan. 8 — including one that netted the thief more than $66,000 in jewelry, according to the NYPD's CompStat database. 

Only one burglary in the 84th Precinct — which covers Brooklyn Heights, Boerum Hill, Downtown Brooklyn, DUMBO and Vinegar Hill —  occurred outside Brooklyn Heights during that same time period, data shows. 

Local police have been warning residents to keep their doors and windows locked after a recent string of burglaries in the neighborhood.

The latest data shows that burglaries during the first week of the year have already exceeded half the amount recorded between Dec. 5 and Jan. 1, when there were 13.

December saw triple the number of burglaries reported the month prior, as only four break-ins occurred in the precinct between Nov. 7 and Dec. 4, police said.

This first week of January's number is significantly higher than last year, when only one burglary was reported for the first week of 2016, according to police data.

Police said most of the residential burglaries have taken place during the work week when apartments and homes were unoccupied. 

In one case that was reported last week, a burglar stole $66,410 in jewelry and accessories from a 42-year-old man’s apartment near Hicks and State streets sometime between 3 p.m. on Dec. 21 and 6 p.m. on Jan. 2, police said. The burglar got in by using a key that had been left in the resident’s mailbox, police said. 

In another burglary, a suspect hit two apartments in one building near Henry and Joralemon streets on the same day. The thief took more than $42,000  in jewelry from a 37-year-old woman’s apartment and $1,400 in electronics and accessories from a 33-year-old man’s apartment on Jan. 3 sometime between 9:30 a.m. and 5 p.m., police said.

A burglar also stole a $1,099 laptop from a 38-year-old woman’s apartment on Sidney Place sometime between 8 a.m. on Jan. 6 and 10 a.m. on Jan. 7, police added.

Thieves have also hit local businesses and construction sites in the area. 

On Jan. 4, a suspect took $1,000 from Montague Bagels at 108 Montague St. at 1:40 a.m. after breaking into the eatery’s front door. A manager declined to comment on the burglary.

The Brooklyn Heights Association warned residents last week to take simple measures like locking their doors and windows to secure their homes against thieves. 

“The burglaries were well reported, so I would like to think that anyone who saw those reports would take the common-sense steps to secure their apartments,” BHA Executive Director Peter Bray.