By: Benyamin Davidsons
On Monday, a serial burglar was caught in Robert De Niro’s Manhattan rental townhouse allegedly stealing presents under the actor’s Christmas tree, as per law enforcement sources.
As reported by the NY Post, Shanice Aviles, 30, allegedly crept down a stairwell and used a metal bar or pipe to force her entry into the locked basement of his Upper East Side home. At about 2:30 a.m., cops caught her red handed on the second floor of De Niro’s home fumbling around with his iPad near other presents under the holiday tree, sources told the Post. “She was stealing Christmas presents,” a police official said.
Aviles already had cops from NYPD’s 19th Precinct Public Safety team trailing her, thanks to her known reputation for burglaries in the neighborhood. She has a repertoire of at least 26 past arrests—mostly all for burglaries. Sixteen of the arrests took place this year. Before allegedly forcing her way into the townhouse, Aviles was said to have been spotted trying to open doors to commercial buildings in the posh neighborhood.
As per the Post, the 79-year-old Oscar-winning actor was himself sleeping in the home at the time, and his daughter was also in her bedroom. Neither of them were aware at the time of the late-night intrusion at the $69,000-a-month rental home.
Police charged Aviles with burglary — again. “Back in the saddle with this perp,” said a police source. Just last Wednesday, Aviles was arraigned on charges connected to two Queens burglaries and released without bail, as per her record and sources for the Post. Those cases allege that Aviles stole $1,000 in cash from St. Patrick’s Church in Dutch Kills Queens on Oct. 23; and ransacked an apartment on Oct. 1, stealing a debit card, which she later used to charge over $50 at nearby 7-11, the criminal complaint says. In the 19th precinct, which included the Upper East Side, Aviles raked up at least six burglaries in the short time between Nov. 25 and Dec. 8, police sources said.
On Dec. 9, she was arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court, with Judge Paul McDonnell ordering a $5,000 cash bail after prosecutors had requested a $35,000 bail, the District Attorney’s Office said. On Dec. 13, however, Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Jonathan Svetkey agreed to release Aviles into a 28-day drug rehab program at Cornerstone Treatment Facilities, as per prosecutors. The DA thought it would be ok because she would be in the custody of the rehab clinic. However, she skipped out on her next court appearance–with a bench warrant being issued for her arrest two days later. On Monday, after the alleged break-in at De Niro’s, she was taken in handcuffs to Lenox Hill stationhouse.
“This is just another example of the catch-and-release justice system we’re dealing with,” one police official told the Post. Another source said Aviles is “one of the [19th Precinct’s] top five burglars.”
Later on Monday afternoon, reporters waiting outside De Niro’s home asked him for comment. He said he was “OK” and replied, “Yep, I’m good. Thank you,” said De Niro. “You can read about it in the paper.”
