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Police Talk Ninja Burglar With SI Residents
By
Jen Chung
Published Sep 24, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published Sep 24, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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The shadowy "Ninja Burglar" and his brazen break-ins - when homeowners are present - are worrying Staten Island residents. The Staten Island Advance reports the Iron Hills Civic Association is meeting with the highest ranking police officer in Staten Island, Assistant Chief Albert Girimonte, today and that a "walk-through tour of the neighborhood with police is tentatively slated for Wednesday morning."
The Ninja Burglar's latest victims, Mary Ann and John Carlo, recalled the Friday night break-in at their Dongan Hills home. They believe scaled their house, got onto the roof, and then entered through a patio door. Mary Ann Carlo, who ran into the burglar, told the Advance, "He ran up the stairs like a cat. He was very athletic, very quiet and very fast." John Carlo, a dentist, suspects the robber "has a personality problem and actually believes he's some sort of ninja. He's taking a lot of chance, almost asking to get caught."
The Ninja Burglar, named so because of his ninja outfit, has struck at least sixteen homes and has actually encountered six home owners. Seventy-three-year-old Anna Jacobs told the Daily News about her July 18 encounter with the ninja, when he was standing at the foot of her bed. How did she know it was a stranger? "He was more graceful going around my bed than my husband would have been."
Though in one case, one homeowner stabbed the Ninja Burglar, police are warning Staten Island homeowners not to take matters into their own hands. A police source said, "It's a constant fear with anybody that enters a residence, knowing someone is home or should be home, that the potential for danger is there tenfold. Burglars traditionally don't want confrontation, but this guy doesn't care and that's what makes him so dangerous."
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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