November 23, 1998

BROOKLYN MAN ARRESTED IN EIGHT RESIDENTIAL BURGLARIES IN FOREST HILLS, FLUSHING AND WHITESTONE

Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown and New York City Police Department officials announced today the arrest of a 36 year old Brooklyn man on charges of committing eight residential burglaries in Forest Hills and in the Flushing/Whitestone areas of Queens County over the last four months.

District Attorney Brown said, "Late Saturday night patrol officers from the 107th Pct. and detectives assigned to the Queens Robbery Squad arrested Lionel Jackson, 36, of Brooklyn, who has been on Federal parole since last March after serving 14 years in prison on bank robbery charges, and charged him with having committed 8 home invasions in the Flushing/Whitestone and Forest Hills areas. In each instance it is alleged that Jackson would break into single-family dwellings during the middle of the night while the occupants -- who were usually elderly -- were asleep, that he would wake them and demand money and jewelry, that he would threaten them with a knife or a hammer telling them that he was a drug addict and that he had a car waiting outside and that he would drag them throughout the house searching for valuables and cash."

District Attorney Brown continued, "The defendant was arrested by police officers responding to a report of a suspicious person knocking on doors and then hiding behind trees in a residential area in the 107th Pct. At the time of the arrest he was dressed all in black, had a duffle bag with him containing over $30,000 in cash and jewelry and was wearing a jacket allegedly taken in an earlier burglary.

"The residents of the Flushing and Whitestone areas -- and of Forest Hills, as well -- can rest a little bit easier today knowing that the defendant is in custody," said District Attorney Brown.

The crimes with which the defendant is charged took place at the following locations on the following dates: August 13, 1998 at 47-47 188th Street; September 7, 1998 at 85-23 66th Avenue; September 7, 1998 at 60-30 Booth Street; October 17, 1998 at 62-17 Cromwell Cr.; October 18, 1998 at 69-01 Alderton St.; October 22, 1998 at 140-30 58th Road; November 14, 1998 at 171-32 Ashby Avenue and November 20, 1998 at 50-67 149th St.

The defendant has been charged with six counts of burglary in the first degree, two counts of burglary in the second degree, criminal possession of stolen property and criminal possession of a weapon. He will be arraigned today in Queens Criminal Court. If convicted of the charges, the defendant faces a maximum sentence of life in prison as a persistent felony offender.

Assistant District Attorney Umberto F. Guido of District Attorney Brown's Long Island City Bureau and Assistant District Attorney James W. Evangelou of District Attorney Brown's Career Criminal Major Crime Unit are in charge of the case.

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