Officers from the 68th Precinct took down two perps – believed to be suspects in an ongoing string of commercial burglaries happening along Third Avenue – early Thursday morning.
According to a police source, the precinct’s Anti-Crime team pulled up to Xin Restaurant and Bar, located on the corner of Third Avenue and 84th Street, and saw three perps – described only as black men – leaving a side door of the eatery with pry bars on Thursday, April 28.
Officers caught up to two of the perps when the trio attempted to flee and recovered a pry bar from the scene. One of the perps was able to escape, however, and Anti-Crime is having the pry bar checked for DNA.
According to Captain Joseph Hayward, the 68th Precinct’s Commanding Officer, this is not an isolated incident. At a joint Third Avenue Merchants and Fifth Avenue Bid meeting at the 68thPrecinct held on Wednesday, April 27, Hayward stressed the importance of security precautions, being that there have been “four commercial burglaries on Third Avenue in the last six weeks.”
Residents and local elected officials were quick to praise the precinct’s police work
“I think the NYPD did an outstanding job,” State Senator Marty Golden told this paper. “Kudos to the men and women of the 68th Precinct who made a major arrest this morning involving those believed to be responsible for the recent string of commercial burglaries. This is a good sign of the NYPD being on top of things.”
Golden also mentioned that the NYPD has been proactive in responding to the recent rash of business crimes – appointing two new police officers to the precinct last week from the academy and five police officers from the impact unit, assigned to the area to help investigate, track and follow these crime patterns.
“Tremendous job by the 68th Precinct during the early morning hours today,” said Councilmember Vincent Gentile. “The culprits seem to have a substantial criminal history and may be responsible for a string of burglaries here in Southern Brooklyn and Queens. I have been in communication with Captain Hayward and I am confident that the suspects will be brought to justice.”
The investigation is ongoing. We will update this story with more information as it becomes available.
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