By Laura Lane
Residents worry about possible crime spree; police urge calm
Dave Reisner believes there has been a rash of burglaries in Merrick. His home on Clubhouse Drive, where he's lived for 11 years, was burglarized on Nov. 2 in the evening hours, as was his neighbor's home a few doors down.
There were also two burglaries on Dec. 1 on Jason Court in Bellmore, which occurred within minutes of each other.
Police are investigating the crimes. Authorities said there were 11 burglaries in Merrick south of Merrick Road and in Bellmore between Nov. 1 and Jan. 7.
"Eleven sounds like a lot, and it is 11 more than we want there, but when you put it into context with other locations with the same population, it's right up there," said police officer Vincent Garcia.
What worries Reisner most is that he believes people are unaware of the burglaries. "Someone should tell people that there is a rash of burglaries," Reisner said. "I found out three days ago that my next-door neighbors didn't know anything about the burglaries on our street."
His wife, Lolitta, worries about the couple's 13-year-old son. The Reisners believe that whomever burglarized their home missed their son by minutes. "No longer will he be home by himself, and he knows all about the alarm system now, too," said Lolitta, adding that he had left the house without turning it on the night of the burglary. "I feel like I've been violated. I had original documents like my birth certificate from Russia that I'll never be able to get back, my jewelry and my parent's jewelry. That someone came into my home, it's really horrible."
The burglar entered the Reisner home by breaking a rear second-story bathroom window. A safe was stolen from the master bedroom, which was hidden in one of the closets in the room.
"My theory is that the burglars are temporary workers that contractors hire in our area," Reisner said. "Whoever burglarized my home opened up one closet, and none of the other closets in my bedroom were touched. The people must have known the layout of the house."
Reisner said the contractor who had recently done work on his home replaced his broken bathroom window for free. He said the contractor agreed with his belief that it could have been the temporary workers and felt badly because of the Reisners' loses.
"It has cost us over $6,000 to replace a table and the banister that they broke while dragging the safe downstairs," said Reisner, adding that among the objects stolen from his safe was custom-made jewelry belonging to his late father. "Police have told me that they have nothing, except that the way my burglary and the others have been done is similar."
Deputy Inspector Albert Jaskot, commanding officer of the 7th Precinct, said that crime is down in Nassau County. On Tuesday, police announced that it had hit a 40-year low.
The 7th Precinct includes Massapequa, Massapequa Park, Seaford, Bellmore and Merrick. "In the 7th Precinct, residential burglaries are down by 12.62 percent, and commercial burglaries are down by over 43 percent," Jaskot said. "Although crime is down in Nassau County, burglaries are always there. Having 10 burglaries in the Bellmore-Merrick area over a two-month period is not that out of the ordinary. We're patrolling the area, but people have to put their alarms on, too."
Joe Baker, president of the South Merrick Civic Association, said he was concerned that people were unaware of the burglaries. "People need to know to be on their guard and be extra careful," Baker said. "We'll have a representative from the burglary squad and one from the 7th Precinct at our next meeting on Feb. 28."
Comments about this story? LLane@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 236.
Homes hit in Bellmore-Merrick
There have been four burglaries in Merrick south of Merrick Road on the following dates: two on Nov. 2, one on Nov. 8 and one on Nov. 21
There have been six burglaries in the Bellmores on the following dates: Nov. 17, Nov. 22, Nov. 24, Nov. 25, Nov. 30, two on Dec. 1.
