Nassau officials target rise in burglaries

Nassau police have made at least 72 burglary arrests this year as part of a strategy they say is designed to combat an "unacceptable" uptick in home and commercial burglaries, county officials said Thursday.

The police said those arrested are responsible for about 95 burglaries, more than 50 of them in 2012. At a news conference Thursday, the county provided a list of more than 70 of those arrested in the burglary cases. But officials did not list the exact charges, the case dispositions or the dates of the crimes and arrests.

Most categories of reported crime are down in Nassau, figures show. But preventing burglaries and arresting suspected burglars has become the department's top priority after recent statistics also showed that the crime was up nearly 5 percent for 2011 over 2010 and up nearly 70 percent for roughly the first six weeks of 2012 over the same period last year.

The more than six dozen highlighted yesterday at a news conference with the county executive are blamed for about 52 burglaries this year, 40 in 2011, two in 2009, and one in 2007.

"If you commit a burglary in Nassau County, be prepared to have a stay in one of our jail cells," Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano said.

There were 2,017 burglary reports in 2011; 1,922 in 2010; 1,984 in 2009; and 1,906 in 2008.

During the first six weeks of this year, there were 225 burglaries reported to police, compared with 133 last year in the same period, 250 in 2010 and 225 in 2009.

Among the arrests touted Thursday: a suspected burglary trio from the city that had terrorized communities along the Southern State Parkway, and a Bethpage man charged with burglarizing his own neighborhood.

Also on the list was a suspect in Wantagh who apparently cut herself, leaving blood that police linked to her through her DNA file.