Search Continues For Suspect Caught On Surveillance Video Burglarizing UES Apartments
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Police are hoping surveillance video will help identify a man who they say stole tens of thousands of dollars in jewelry from three apartments in a luxury Upper East Side building.
Around 4 p.m. Saturday, police said the man was able to get into a building on East 86th Street and York Avenue. Once inside, police said he broke into three separate apartments, taking jewelry from each unit before fleeing the building.
One woman, who did not want to be identified, said the suspect made off with several pieces of expensive jewelry, CBS2's Meg Baker reported.
"A lot of precious things -- a lot -- because I had taken them out of the safe deposit box," she said.
The woman's neighbor caught the suspect on his motion-activated surveillance camera. In the video, an older man with a baseball cap can be seen rummaging through the drawers of a bedroom.
"He looks like a normal papa," the woman said. "The young people said, 'Oh, he's so old to be a burglar."
Tenants were told the man slipped by the doorman completely undetected.
"He picked a busy time when the doorman was busy, and he looks like other people who live in the building, with the cap on, and he just walked in," the woman said.
"Makes you a little anxious because I've been here 15 years and never, ever any kind of incident. Nothing," said tenant Carmen Gutierrez.
Tenants believe the man was able to pick the locks of doors that weren't dead bolted and knew people weren't home when he saw newspapers outside their doors.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-577-TIPS, visit www.nypdcrimestoppers.com or text tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.
