Midday burglar hits city police commissioner's office

The office of New York City's police commissioner, on the 14th floor at One Police Plaza, was the site of a brazen midday burglary Tuesday.

A 30-year-old Brooklyn man, with 17 prior arrests, was able to make his way up to Commissioner Ray Kelly's office, and make it down and almost out with two lap tops that he found sitting on a desk, police said.

Jermaine Sweet was arrested as he left the building, police said. He was charged with burglary, police said.

Sweet was in police headquarters to recover property from a clerk's office on a lower floor, police said. But after stopping at the clerk's office about 11 a.m., he took an elevator to the 14th floor where renovations were taking place, police said.

After casually chatting with construction workers briefly, he saw an opportunity and took the two laptops that were on top of a desk and left, police said.

The laptops belonged to a police lieutenant who realized shortly afterward that they were missing, police said. The lieutenant notified building security and Sweet was apprehended downstairs, and the laptops recovered, police said.

Most of Sweet's previous arrests were for drug sale charges, police said.