By Jeff Lipton
Noticing a pattern on the second day of the burglaries, police established a joint task force involving plainclothes officers from the Fourth Precinct, detectives of the Fourth Squad and officers of the Nassau County Police Department's Bureau of Special Operations. Detectives were able to track down the suspects when one of them used a cell phone taken from one of the victims' homes, police said.
The teenagers were identified by police as Skylier Davis, 19, of Henry Street in Inwood, who was charged with breaking into all six of the homes; Justin Portee, 18, of Wheatley Street in Hewlett, who was accused in five of the burglaries; Jimmie Cochran, 19, of Nameoke Street in Far Rockaway, charged with three of the break-ins; and Jamie Jones, 17, of Zavatt Street in Inwood, accused in three break-ins.
Davis, Portee and Jones were collared by police on Monday, Sept. 29, and Cochran was nabbed the following day. All four suspects were charged with second-degree burglary, authorities said.
The break-ins occurred in unoccupied homes between Sept. 16 and 19, during the daytime hours when the victims were at work or away, investigators said. The locations of homes that two or more of the suspects are accused of hitting include Church Avenue in Woodmere, Grove Avenue in Cedarhurst, Caryl Drive in North Lawrence, Bay Boulevard in Atlantic Beach, Harrison Avenue in Lawrence and Hungry Harbor Road in Valley Stream, police said.
"They went on a mini-crime spree over a three-day period," said Deputy Inspector Richard McGuire, commanding officer of the Fourth Precinct. "One of the suspects used a cell phone belonging to a victim, and we traced some of the phone calls that were made."
The haul from the burglaries included cash, jewelry and electronic equipment such as DVD players and VCRs. An inventory of stolen items was being taken, and thus far it amounts to about $20,000 in cash, jewelry and appliances, according to Detective Sgt. John King of the Fourth Squad. Following the arrests, some of the stolen property was recovered, police said.
Investigators said the suspects operated as a team to allegedly rob homes by either prying open windows or forcing open doors. "No one was home at the time," McGuire said. "The houses were randomly picked at the different locations.
"We managed to pick up a [burglary] pattern on the second day the burglaries were happening, and we formed a task force and brought it to a successful conclusion with the arrests," he added.
McGuire said there were eyewitnesses to the burglaries who managed to identify the suspects in at least two of the cases. But police said the witnesses did not come forward until after the arrests were made.
"It seems that in two of the burglaries, [the witnesses] watched them break into the house," McGuire said. "We ask that each neighbor use common sense and call 911 when they see something like that. They did come forward, but it was way after the fact."
