Serial burglar stole $30K from eight NYC businesses in 2-week spree: cops

A serial burglar targeted eight popular Williamsburg restaurants and bars – pocketing more than $30,000 in cash – over a two-week spree, police said Monday.

The suspect was caught staring directly at a surveillance camera, looking stunned in glasses and a Champion hoodie sweatshirt, during one attempted heist last month, according to a photo released by the NYPD.

His spree started on Dec. 20 at Ainslie, a chic Italian restaurant on Ainslie Street near Keap Street, where he snuck in through the rooftop and stole $10,654, cops said.

On Dec. 26, he first tried to hit The Richardson Bar on Graham Avenue, entering through a cellar door at around 4 a.m., but fled without taking anything.

About 40 minutes later, he walked through the front door of St. Mazie, a jazz bar and restaurant on Grand Street near Marcy Avenue and allegedly grabbed about $2,000 from a safe before bolting, cops said. 

Then on Dec. 30, police said the burglar broke into Jajaja Mexicana through a basement door at around 5 a.m., and snatched about $1,915 from a safe at the plant-based restaurant on Kent Avenue near North 7th Street.

Only a half-hour passed before he allegedly made his way into Teddy’s Bar and Grill on Berry Street near North 8th Street, also through the basement door — but he left empty-handed, cops said.

He tried again about 90 minutes later at the Cozy Royale restaurant on Humboldt Street near Jackson Street, breaking in through the basement gate, cops said. 

While inside, the bespectacled suspect appeared shocked as he looked up at the surveillance camera, according to footage and a screen grab released by the NYPD as it asked for the public’s help in identifying him. He again fled empty-handed, police said. 

The burglar picked up his spree again in the new year – entering the Deux Chats cocktail bar through the cellar door around 2:40 a.m. on Jan. 4 and stealing about $5,500 from a safe, cops said. 

At around the same time the next day, cops say he forced his way through the front door gate of 12 Chairs Café, an Israeli restaurant on Wythe Avenue near South Second Street.

He made off with about $10,000 from the safe during that Jan. 5 robbery, police said.