Suffolk DA: St. James man indicted in burglary string
A St. James man faces up to 15 years in prison for allegedly committing a string of commercial burglaries in November, Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy Sini announced Friday.
Kieran Fichtner, 27, was arraigned earlier this month on numerous charges for crimes he allegedly committed while on supervised release with GPS monitoring. He’s also accused of firing a gun in residential neighborhoods to misdirect police while burglarizing businesses nearby.
Fichtner and an accomplice, Michael Parise, 46, of Stony Brook, also were indicted in connection with the alleged attempted theft of an ATM in Smithtown, Sini's office said.
"These two individuals are alleged serial burglars who were targeting businesses and driving crime in our community," Sini said in a news release.
Fichtner, who was on supervised release for an unrelated pending charge of criminal possession of a weapon, committed the crimes between Nov. 4 and Nov. 25, 2020, Sini's office said. He is accused of targeting jewelry stores in St. James, Sound Beach, Port Jefferson Station and Rocky Point. He also targeted Raan Thai restaurant in Nesconset and a Subway restaurant in Ronkonkoma, Sini's office said.
Fichtner is charged with an assortment of felonies and misdemeanors, including three counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, two counts of second-degree grand larceny, and six counts of third-degree burglary.
On Nov. 28, 2020, Suffolk police Major Case detectives observed Fichtner and Parise allegedly attempt to steal an ATM from Chase Bank at 705 Smithtown Bypass, the release said. Fichtner was apprehended after a police chase.
That same day, a police search of Fichtner’s vehicle recovered a loaded 9-mm pistol, about a gram of cocaine, and a New York State Corrections jacket that he had been seen wearing during several of the burglaries, the release said.
A forensic analysis conducted by the Suffolk County Crime Laboratory concluded that the pistol had been used in two shootings in November in residential neighborhoods, Sini's office said. No one was injured in the shootings.
Detectives also executed a search warrant at Fichtner’s home and recovered jewelry, art, two shotguns, trailers, motorcycles, and one Mercedes, which had all been reported as stolen, Sini's office said. Police also recovered an eagle statue that had been reported as stolen from a World War II memorial at Washington Memorial Park Cemetery in Mount Sinai.
George Duncan, Fichtner's Islip Terrace-based attorney, said his client is in custody.
"My client has entered a plea of not guilty, he maintains his innocence and we're looking forward to a thorough review of the evidence," Duncan said.
Fichtner is due back in court April 9.
Parise was arrested last week on unrelated charges in connection with a number of commercial burglaries, at which time he made admissions to police regarding his involvement in the November ATM theft, Sini's office said. Parise also admitted to detectives that Fichtner would fire the pistol in residential neighborhoods to distract police in order to commit burglaries nearby.
Parise was arraigned Friday, charged with second-degree attempted grand larceny, second-degree criminal mischief, and attempted third-degree grand larceny. He's being represented by Legal Aid Society of Suffolk County, which could not be reached for comment. He is due back in court April 14.
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