New York(NBC New York)- Armed thieves were seen on video pilfering a Chanel store in SoHo in broad daylight, raiding the shop and making off with about $160,000 in luxury items as stunned shoppers looked on.

The four men busted into the store at the corner of Spring Street and Wooster Street in Manhattan just before 2 p.m. Tuesday, police said. Video recorded by a woman inside the store shows them moving about the store, grabbing designer bags and goods by the armful while two others hold the doors open.

At one point, a security guard inside told one of the robbers that she was armed. The man responded, "What are you going to do? Shoot me?" and showed her the butt of his own gun.

Police confirmed that the suspects are responsible for a pattern of robberies — 20 in total, including a COS store next door — taking place from SoHo to midtown over the past couple of months. NYPD Chief of Detectives Rodney Harrison said the robbery spree began during the widespread looting that took place over the summer.

"They go in, snatching things off of shelves, and speed off," Harrison said in a call with reporters Thursday. He said that the suspects sell the stolen goods on social media.

Police have struggled to apprehend the suspects due to difficulties that have arisen as a result of COVID — for example, wearing face masks has made it hard to identify suspects.

In Tuesday's incident, the robbers also took off in an Audi sedan with no license plates, making it difficult to see where it might have gone after the heist. Detectives said that the getaway cars the suspects have frequently used are rental cares, often with fake license plates.

The complaint filed with police said the suspects took about $160,000 worth of goods. An investigation is ongoing.

Source -https-www-nbcnewyork-com-news-local-crime-and-courts-thieves-swipe-160k-in-goods-from-soho-chanel-store-during-wild-daytime-robbery-2869227

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – The NYPD wants your help identifying the man caught on video burglarizing a restaurant in Brooklyn.

It happened Monday at 5:35 a.m. at Mac Shack, a restaurant on Fulton Street.

Video shows the man hurl something into a window to break it, then climb in. The man can then be seen heading behind the counter, grabbing a cash lockbox and hurrying out the way he came in. He then took off on Fulton Street, before heading north on Vanderbilt Avenue.

Police say he got away with $245.

Anyone with any information is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). You can also submit a tip via their website or on Twitter, @NYPDTips. All calls are kept confidential.

Source - https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2021/01/27/caught-on-video-suspect-smashes-window-burglarizes-mac-shack-restaurant-in-brooklyn/

RIDGEWOOD, Queens (WABC) -- Police are searching for a Queens burglary suspect.

The NYPD says the man seen in surveillance video broke into two stores just five hours apart in Ridgewood.

The video is from the second incident at the Ye Garden restaurant on Fresh Pond Road.

In both break-ins the suspect broke through a glass front door before taking money from the cash registers.

If you recognize the suspect, call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).

You can also submit tips by visiting the CrimeStoppers website at crimestoppers.nypdonline.org or by messaging on Twitter @NYPDTips.

source - https://abc7ny.com/burglary-queens-ridgewood-surveillance-video/6144978/

An 81-year-old Florida man known as the "Holiday Bandit" has been sentenced to five years in prison for breaking into luxury Manhattan homes during the holidays.

Authorities say Samuel Sabatino was behind numerous burglaries of doorman buildings on the Upper East Side and Upper West Side during Fourth of July, Memorial Day and other holidays for about a decade. He was caught on surveillance cameras at least once, stealing cash and jewels.

He pleaded guilty on Jan. 2 to attempted burglary, bail jumping, burglary, and tampering with evidence, the New York Daily News reported.

Sabatino would sneak past doormen and ride up elevators, pick apartment locks and then make his getaway. Police sources said Sabatino would drive up to the city from his home in Miami and pay cash tolls along his route, perhaps to avoid detection. They said he would then stay in a motel in New Jersey and cross the George Washington Bridge — again, paying cash —before picking a building to target.

An alert doorman at a building along 93rd Street noticed him as he tried to enter a few months ago and turned him away. The doorman then called police.

Police said they can link Sabatino to at least five burglaries in recent years, but they suspect he is behind many others. Statute of limitations is five years for larceny.

One victim from a July 4, 2015, burglary said at the time that she was shaken her apartment had been targeted.

"You start to shake. You start to feel like you have been violated," the woman said, asking her name not be disclosed.

She said she had more than $40,000 in jewelry stolen.

In another alleged instance, according to a criminal complaint, a man reported that $50,000 of valuables, including wedding rings, a diamond ring and high-end watches were missing from his apartment when he and his wife returned to their home on 79th Street after days away.

In 2019 alone, Sabatino stole over $100,000, successfully entering three separate apartments and attempting to enter additional apartments, according to Assistant District Attorney Rachel Polisner. However, it is believed Sabatino has stolen about $400,000 worth of items over the past five years.

Additionally, Polisner said that in an effort to destroy evidence, Sabatino tried to flush a watch down the toilet, which prosecutors believe belongs to an alleged burglary victim.

Polisner said that part of the reason why the investigation has been ongoing for years is largely because Sabatino was living under a new identity, the alias "James Clement," since he disappeared in 2001 after allegedly jumping bail from a previous burglary arrest.

source - https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/81-year-old-holiday-bandit-gets-5-years-in-prison-for-manhattan-apartment-break-ins/2264275/