By JEFF LIPTON
³Everybody is afraid,² said Evans, who lives in Barnum Isle. ³I know in my own house I am hiding my jewelry. I have a dog, a beagle, and my biggest fear is that they would do something to my dog.²
Evans said Island Park, Barnum Isle and Harbor Isle have been stung by about a half-dozen break-ins over the last several weeks, but the spree really hit home when her neighbor on Vanderbilt Avenue was hit by burglars. In that break-in, which occurred sometime after 7:30 a.m. on Nov. 20, rear French doors were kicked in and jewelry, cash and a digital camera were taken, police said.
According to a report from 4th Precinct police, a home on Broadway in Island Park was hit sometime after 11:30 p.m. on Nov. 3, when a burglar or burglars broke into the house and took jewelry, a cell phone, immigration papers and checks.
Two other homes on Broadway were also targeted ‹ including once on Nov. 11 when someone entered through a front door of an apartment and ransacked the bedroom, police said. On Oct. 7 a man was observed attempting to remove an air conditioning unit from the front of a house on Broadway but ran away when he noticed he was being observed by someone in a car, according to a police report.
In addition, police said that sometime after 7 a.m. on Nov. 8 someone entered through a broken window of a California Place home in Island Park and swiped jewelry before fleeing.
Two bottles of prescription medicine were taken during a break-in of a home on Long Beach Road in Island Park sometime after 10 a.m. on Oct. 27, when a front door was broken, police said.
³The police can¹t seem to be able to do anything about it,² said Evans of the burglary spree. ³It¹s really frustrating. I¹ve been living here 30 years and we never had anything like this before, at least not so close to us. I was never afraid to leave my jewelry in my house before.²
However, Inspector Richard McCarrick, commander of the 4th Precinct, said police have arrested a man and a woman from Suffolk County who are being investigated in connection with area burglaries. Arrested were Danielle Finn, 26, of Farmingville, and Lawrence Matrisciano, 40, of Islip, according to a police report from the 4th Precinct. They were nabbed on Fifth Street in Oceanside at 2:30 p.m. on Nov. 28 on attempted burglary charges after a chase through backyards that ended up in the Sand¹s Shopping Center, according to the report.
³I don¹t know if they are the only ones [suspected of committing burglaries], but they may be responsible for a number of them,² said McCarrick. ³We haven¹t had one like that since they were arrested, so that¹s good news.²
Police said the investigation is continuing.
Comments about this story? Jlipton@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 210.
