Burglary Complaints Rise On the Upper East Side

Burglary complaints on the Upper East Side are on the rise after years of steady decline, police statistics show.

The number of burglary complaints in the 19th Precinct has spiked this year by about 25% compared to the same period last year, even as overall crime citywide continues to drop, according to the statistics.

Police suspect that the sudden rise in burglaries is the doing of a career thief who before his arrest last month allegedly committed a spree of burglaries on the Upper East Side, a neighborhood where complaints about the crime have dropped by about 80% compared to the same period in 1993.

"Due to initiatives put in place in the 19th precinct, a suspect believed to be responsible for a large number of burglaries was recently apprehended," a spokesman for the police department, Chief Michael Collins, said via e-mail.

A narcotics detective arrested the suspect, Keith Brown, on March 30. At the time, Brown, who is homeless, was carrying a bag that held five screwdrivers, a hammer, and several pairs of gloves, according to court documents.

In an ensuing investigation, detectives tied Brown, 43, to a number of burglaries and robberies on the Upper East Side. Brown was caught on surveillance tape allegedly breaking a window at a sandwich shop on Lexington Avenue near 75th Street, Starwich, and stealing about $200 from a cash register at about 5:30 a.m.

"It was at night when we were closed. He broke one of the windows," the shop's manager, James Matthews, said. "You can see him on the footage looking around for stuff, but most of the money was locked up in the safe."

Two days later, Brown allegedly attempted to rob a newsstand on the corner of East 68th Street and Third Avenue but was confronted and dropped the cash box, according to court documents.

In the last incident for which Brown faces charges, which took place March 26, he allegedly broke a window in order to gain entrance to a restaurant on 73rd Street and Lexington Avenue at about 4:50 a.m. Once inside, he allegedly threatened a porter with a handgun and asked him to hand over cash from the register, according to officials and court documents.

While burglaries are up in the 19th Precinct, Chief Collins pointed out that overall crime is down in the precinct by 10% compared to last year. Brown, who according to a spokesman for the Department of Correction has been held in city jails on at least five other occasions, mostly on burglary charges, will be arraigned at state Supreme Court on May 7. He has been charged with counts of robbery, burglary, and possession of burglar's tools.