Crime & Safety

Police: Cable Worker Targeted Homes, Four Arrested For Burglaries

Four men charged in seven home burglaries, including incidents in East Patchogue, Medford, Holtsville and Farmingville, police say.

A man working as a subcontractor for Optimum Cable picked out homes to burglarize and he and three other men were arrested Friday morning and charged with a host of home burglaries in the county over the past few months, police said.

The four men were arrested less than 10 minutes after they burglarized an occupied home in East Patchogue around 10:25 a.m., police said.

Fifth Precinct detectives responded to a burglary in progress call on Haig Avenue and spotted Marvin Escobar walking out of the backyard and down the driveway of the residence, police said.

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Escobar, 19, of Bay Shore, fled, but the detectives caught up to him a short distance away, where he was found to be in possession of jewelry, police said.

As the detectives were walking to their vehicles they noticed a suspicious van in the area and broadcast a description of the 2000 gray Dodge Caravan with magnetic Optimum Cable logos attached to side doors, police said.

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Police pulled over the van in Medford and found the three people inside to be in possession of assorted jewelry. One of them, Francisco Sanchez, a subcontractor for Optimum, picked the targeted homes and was assisted by the other men in executing the burglaries, police said.

Sanchez, 41, of Brentwood, Robert Alcantara, 20, of Central Islip, and Jose Castro, 19, of Brentwood, were arrested along with Escobar.

The two people home at the time of the East Patchogue burglary Friday were not injured.

An investigation revealed that all four men are also responsible for the following burglaries, according to police:

  •        Jan. 26, 2012 a home on Washington Avenue in Holtsville
  •        Jan. 26, 2012 a home on Fenwick Avenue in Farmingville
  •        Jan. 20, 2012 a home on Ohio Avenue in Medford
  •        Dec. 9, 2011 a home on Boston Avenue in Bay Shore
  •        Dec. 2, 2011 a home on Illinois Avenue in North Bay Shore
  •        Sept. 7, 2011 a home on Illinois Avenue in North Bay Shore

Sanchez is also charged with grand larceny for stealing jewelry while he was working as a subcontractor for Optimum at a home on Irving Street in Terryville on July 14, 2011, police said. Police told Patch that incident was the only one in which Sanchez stole property while on the job.

In a statement released Saturday, Cablevision, which runs Optimum services, said it had suspended work with the subcontracting company, Nationwide, which employed Sanchez. 

“We are cooperating fully with the police and are immediately suspending work with the Nationwide subcontracting company, which provides a limited amount of work, only in Suffolk County, NY, pending a complete review and thorough investigation," Cablevision said.

All four men will be arraigned at First District Court in Central Islip at a later date.

Detectives are still investigating the possibility that these men may be responsible for additional home burglaries within the county. Police ask anyone who may have information on these burglaries, or any other burglaries that may be related, to contact the Fifth Squad at 631-854-8552.  


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