WHITE PLAINS, NY — Some five months after failing to appear for arraignment on dozens of charges relating to a string of burglaries in the area in 2019 and several weeks after being apprehended in Virginia, Omar Willis has been returned to Westchester and arraigned on the 47-count indictment, DA Miriam E. Rocah said today.
Willis and co-defendants Latiek Frazier and Thomas Ricketts face charges stemming from burglaries in August and September 2019 in Bronxville, Hartsdale, Larchmont, Mount Vernon, Pelham Manor, Rye Brook, Rye City and Yonkers. The three co-defendants were indicted for 10 separate instances of home burglaries and in two instances, attempted home burglaries, as well as multiple charges for grand larceny in the second, third and fourth degrees and criminal possession of stolen property. The defendants also face felony conspiracy charges.
After Willis did not appear in court for arraignment on two occasions last October, a warrant was issued for his arrest. He was arrested in Virginia several weeks ago and waived extradition. He is currently being held at the Westchester County Jail.
“In addition to stealing valuable possessions and ransacking the houses, Willis, and his co-defendants robbed 10 families of their sense of security in their homes,” Rocah said. “Some of these families lost cherished family keepsakes and irreplaceable family documents that were handed down over generations.”
The defendants stole many items from the 10 homes they burglarized, including cash, jewelry, televisions, cameras, luggage, designer watches, designer handbags and shoes, collector baseball cards, credit cards, and a Porsche automobile valued at more than $100,000. After finding a 300-pound safe in the bedroom of one home, they threw it down the stairs and hauled it away, causing thousands of dollars in damage.
They also took items of sentimental value including heirloom jewelry and birth certificates, Social Security cards and other historical family documents.
Willis is charged with 10 counts of Burglary in the Second Degree, five counts of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, three counts of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, two counts of Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree, three counts of Criminal Possession of Stolen Property in the Fifth Degree, one count of Criminal Possession of Stolen Property in the Fourth Degree, one count of Criminal Possession of Stolen Property in the Third Degree, one count of Criminal Mischief in the Second Degree, and one count of Attempted Burglary in the Second Degree.
Thomas Ricketts also failed to appear in court and is still at large. Latiek Frazier has been arraigned and is out on bail.
The case is before Judge Anne E. Minihan in Westchester County Court.
The case began as an investigation by the Bronxville Police Department and Assistant District Attorney Celia Curtis, who is prosecuting the case.
UPDATE: Westchester County Police Department Warrant-Fugitive Unit Statement
WCPD and Omar Willis had a reunion of sorts earlier this week when detectives from the Warrant-Fugitive Unit traveled to Virginia to bring him back here to face the music.
We first met Willis in September 2019 when WCPD Patrol officers arrested him and two others as they fled down the Hutch from the scene of a burglary in Rye Brook. Willis and the other men were suspects in a burglary ring responsible for multiple break-ins and thefts around Westchester. The Patrol arrest brought all that to a screeching halt.
Willis failed to show up for subsequent court appearances and a warrant was issued for his arrest. Things went south for him recently when he was picked up by police in Roanoke, Va.
On Tuesday, Detectives Wax and Walag from our Warrant-Fugitive Unit traveled to Virginia to bring him back to Westchester.
We doubt Willis felt as good about getting reacquainted as we did!
RELATED: