Capt. Thomas Conforti, commanding officer of the 112th Precinct, kept residents affected by a string of burglaries informed about the situation through Precinct Council meetings and information via social media. File photo
A Brooklyn man is about to spend 10 years of his life behind bars for breaking into nearly a dozen homes in Forest Hills, Ridgewood, Ozone Park, South Ozone Park, and Howard Beach, and stealing thousands of dollars worth of jewelry, cameras, computer equipment, and other items, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said last week.
Mario Girau, 29, pleaded guilty to second-degree burglary and third-degree criminal possession of stolen property last month and was sentenced last Thursday.
“This defendant is a serial burglar who targeted homes throughout Queens County, terrorizing homeowners by his unlawful intrusions and stealing their valued possessions,” Brown said in a prepared statement. “The sentence imposed…is a just resolution of the matter and demonstrates my office’s continued commitment to prosecuting and punishing those involved in burglarizing the homes of Queens county residents.”
Girau broke into 11 homes between September 2011 and September 2013 and stole thousands of dollars worth of items, including jewelry, computer equipment, cameras, sports memorabilia, and ammunition, according to Brown.
According to the charges, police officers were investigating a pattern of residential burglaries on Sept. 19, 2013 – when they conducted surveillance of Girau and observed him driving in a residential neighborhood. Police said they caught him looking into the windows of several residential homes and, in one instance, entering a residence and committing a burglary. He was arrested shortly thereafter, Brown said.
After Girau was arrested, police issued a search warrant for his home and identified the property of 10 victims whose homes had been previously burglaries, including a Canon camera stolen from a Ridgewood home on Sept. 12, 2011. In that instance, investigators identified the owner of the camera by tracking down a bride who appeared in images taken at a wedding venue in Connecticut and learning that guests of the wedding who had taken the images were the victims of a burglary in Queens.
The nine additional burglaries occurred on Jan. 11, 2013 in South Ozone Park; March 19, 2013 in Ozone Park; May 22, 2013 in Ozone Park; May 25, 2013 in South Ozone Park; Aug. 5, 2013 in Ozone Park; Aug. 7, 2013 in Forest Hills; Aug. 24, 2013 in Ozone Park; Sept. 5, 2013 in Forest Hills; and Sept. 13, 2013 in Howard Beach, the DA said.
