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Fake UPS Home Invasion Burglar Strikes Uptown, Possibly Arrested
By
John Del Signore
Published Nov 5, 2009
Modified Nov 5, 2009
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By
John Del Signore
Published Nov 5, 2009
Modified Nov 5, 2009
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[UPDATE BELOW] It's so important to diversify your portfolio. With a police sketch of his likeness taped to brownstone stoops throughout the West Village, the fake deliveryman suspected in a string of home invasion robberies has apparently taken his act back uptown. Yesterday afternoon, a nanny entering a West 81st Street apartment with a 5-month-old boy was followed into the building by the suspect, who was carrying a pile of packages. Once inside, he brandished a knife and forced his way into the apartment.
Police sources say he tied up the nanny but did not otherwise harm her or the child. He then absconded with a laptop and other valuables. The shaken mother tells the Post, "My nanny had a knife to her throat! He took a lot of stuff -- most importantly, our laptop and hard drive. We weren't ready for it. I mean, who organizes their life around preventing a burglary?"
Yesterday's robbery was the sixth in a series that began October 8th, mostly in the West Village and most unfolding without violence. On Monday, a 79-year-old woman was struck in the face when she answered the door.
UPDATE: The NYPD thinks they caught the guy. One victim pointed out 52-year-old William Rodriguez out of a photo lineup; sources tell the Post he has 17 prior arrests, including one in 1988 for attempting to shoot a NYPD officer. Cops arrested Rodriguez in a Bronx hotel on Davidson Avenue today.
Tagged
break in
deliveryman
home invasion
robbery
Upper West Side
UPS
west village
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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