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Serial Burglar Caught After Breaking Into Six Queens Apartments

(Photo: iStock)

March 26, 2018 By Tara Law

A Bronx man has confessed to burglarizing a number of apartments across Queens— including in Elmhurst and Astoria— in the past year, the Queens District Attorney announced Friday.

Kenneth Dellaquila, 59, allegedly broke into a series of apartments on six separate occasions between July 2017 and this month, snatching thousands of dollars worth of cash, laptops and jewelry, District Attorney Richard A. Brown said.

Dellaquila, a convicted felon, faces up to 16 years to life for four separate counts of second-degree burglary and false impersonation. He was arrested earlier this month.

The first two burglaries allegedly took place on July 26 in Elmhurst.

The police obtained video footage from the first incident, where Dellaquila was seen looking inside an apartment at 75-06 Woodside Ave. According to police, he took off with a laptop.

Around 4:30 p.m. that same day, a man arrived home at his 43-26 81st St. building and realized that the door was ajar. The victim and his mother went inside and allegedly found Dellaquila in the apartment holding an Acer laptop.

Dellaquila dropped the laptop and made a run for it. The woman tried to grab him, ripping his shirt off as he escaped.

Dellaquila allegedly committed several more burglaries— at 27-05 Astoria Blvd. on Aug. 17; at 23-90 29th St. on Sep. 22; and at 81-25 156th Ave. on Sept. 5— until a March 8 incident in Rego Park led to his capture.

The defendant was allegedly captured on video walking into the Rego Park apartment building located at 75-10 Yellowstone Blvd at about 3 p.m.

The video showed Dellaquila walking out of the building carrying a bag. He allegedly stole $8,000 cash, a gold ring and a gold necklace belonging to Roberto Valiente, a resident of the Rego Park building.

Dellaquila was spotted walking back into the same building on March 15 around 2 p.m.

Valiente, who recognized Dellaquila from the surveillance video, spotted the defendant and accused him of stealing his property. Valiente chased after Dellaquila, who tried to flee.

A police officer responding to the 911 call found Dellaquila near the scene of the incident. Dellaquila allegedly lied to the officer, saying that his name was Francis Dellaquila instead of Kenneth Dellaquila.

Dellaquila was held on $50,000 bail and ordered to return to court on March 30.

email the author: news@queenspost.com

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