SERIAL RESIDENTIAL BURGLAR ARRESTED FOR 10 BREAK-INS AND ROBBERIES OF THE ELDERLY IN CENTRAL QUEENS

Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown announced today the arrest of a 49 year old Brooklyn man for a series of residential burglaries and robberies in Central Queens communities while the homeowners, mostly senior citizens, were at home.

District Attorney Brown said, "The defendant is charged with respect to 10 burglaries of private homes that have occurred in central Queens during these past few months -- in Forest Hills, Kew Gardens, Jamaica Estates and Flushing. In 9 of the cases the homeowners -- six of whom are over 70 years old -- were at home and as to those cases the defendant faces not just burglary charges, but robbery charges as well.

"It is alleged that the defendant would break into the homes through a first floor or basement window or push his way in when the homeowner answered the door bell. Then he would terrorize the occupants and ransack their homes taking cash, jewelry and electronic equipment. At times he threatened his victims with a knife or a hammer.

"Yesterday, he broke into a home that was not occupied on Hoover Avenue in Kew Gardens. In so doing, he tripped an alarm and was caught red handed by responding police officers."

District Attorney Brown identified the defendant as Donald Jones, 49, of 1323 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn. He is charged with multiple counts of burglary, robbery, criminal possession of a weapon and other crimes.

District Attorney Brown said, "We believe that the defendant's arrest takes not just a common burglar off the street, but someone who is quite capable of violence. He would appear from his record to be a persistent felony offender and -- as such -- will spend the rest of his life in prison if convicted."

In making today's announcement District Attorney Brown commended the work of Lt. William Nevins and the men and women of the Queens Robbery Squad as well as the officers who responded yesterday from the 102nd Precinct who arrested the defendant.

Assistant District Attorney Kenneth M. Appelbaum, Deputy Bureau Chief of District Attorney Brown's Special Victim's Bureau which is under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Marjory D. Fisher, is in charge of the case.

The defendant will be arraigned later today in Queens Criminal Court at Kew Gardens. District Attorney Brown said, "under the circumstances we will ask that the defendant be held without bail."

It should be noted that an arrest is merely an accusation and that a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.