New Rochelle police, responding Friday night to a 911 call of a home invasion residence, responded quickly and located the suspects. A brief vehicle pursuit ensued, and quickly terminated near the high school – a foot pursuit then ensued, officers gave chase on foot.
One of the suspects, Joseph E. Gill, 39, of 148 Tudor Court, Lakewood, N.J. was apprehended and arrested. Two other suspects escaped.
Police are attempting to link the three men to the North End burglary spree going back to November of 2009 first reported by Talk of the Sound in April.
According to the police report, a woman was awakened at 10:34 PM at her home on Forest Avenue. She saw a man in her bedroom taking jewelry from her dresser. The woman followed the man out of her bedroom, came across two other men and confronted them at which point they fled the scene. She called 911.
The men drove off in a van. The car developed a flat tire and stopped on Faneuil Place at which point Gill, the driver of the vehicle, was apprehended. The other two fled and were not caught.
According to New Rochelle Police Commissioner Carroll, the New Rochelle Police Department adopted a more aggressive approach towards dealing with the burglary spree at which point the number of burglaries and attempted burglaries dropped significantly so that by June there was just one of each.
New Rochelle Police Department Crushes North End Burglary Spree
While police are attempting to link the Forest Avenue case with the previous burglaries, it is worth noting that this is the only known instance of a home invasion — the resident was at home when the suspects broke in to attempt a burglary. It may have been their bad luck or an error in thinking the home was unoccupied but there are elements of this case that do not fit the pattern of most of the other burglaries.