A band of thieves accused of hitting multiple Nassau County homes, including one where two girls were home alone at the time, have been arrested on burglary charges.
Police said Irving Brenor, 18, Jayson Jaya, 20, and Giam Cardenas, 19, all of Queens, and a 17-year-old were all charged for their roles in at least two robberies. Each of them pleaded not guilty.
The first robbery happened on Sept. 25 in Manhasset. In the middle of the afternoon, Brenor and Jaya are accused of forcibly entering a home and knocking a female victim to the ground as they opened the door. The defendants are accused of displaying a machete and threatening the multiple victims with the dangerous weapon, stealing $6,800 cash and a purse valued at $3,000, as well as credit cards and documents.
One week later, on Oct. 2, the defendants are accused of forcibly entering a home in Jericho, also in broad daylight. Inside the home were a 13-year-old girl and her 9-year-old sister. The father of the girls had just left to get something from the store when he got an alert through his security system that there was an intruder in his home.
“I was angry, but I tried to stay calm,” he told NBC New York. “I got in the car, came back home as fast as I could.”
Security cameras showed how quickly the foursome reached the second floor, where the girls had locked themselves in their rooms.
“They did how I trained them,” the father, who wishes to remain anonymous to protect his family, said. “So they had their rooms locked, but the intruder kicked one of my daughters’ doors open.”
Inside, the 13-year-old screamed and fought back, stopping them from taking her phone while she tried to call her dad.
But according to court papers, they grabbed the girl’s arm and forcibly removed her cellphone from her hand and stole three watches from the other bedroom worth in excess of $23,000.
“I was burning in vengeance for a week. I prayed a lot,” he said. “I’m grateful the girls were not hurt, but I’m staying hyper alert for what’s going on in the neighborhood.”
Since this happened, more neighbors have shared stories with this family of cars that were broken into and other criminal incidents. They have started a neighborhood watch and vowed to stay alert to protect one another.
“I feel much relief and I’m grateful to the detectives that they are working hard on this case,” said the dad. “I’m grateful the girls are not harmed. And hopefully other people who are in similar situations will not be harmed as well.”
Want more insights? Join Working Title - our career elevating newsletter and get the future of work delivered weekly.
