A series of home burglaries in Queens neighborhoods with substantial Jewish populations – including Fresh Meadows, Hillcrest, Hollis Hills, and Bayside – has led to arrests and convictions following investigations by Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz’s office. Burglars stole cash, jewelry, and other valuables, with one convicted offender sentenced to 28 to 30 years in prison.
The cases involve different defendants and span several years. Homes in Jamaica Estates, Forest Hills, Rego Park, and Oakland Gardens also appear in the investigations. The DA’s announcements do not establish that victims were selected because of their religion.
Juan Morales of Jackson Heights was convicted of burglarizing homes across Queens between November 2022 and February 2023. His targets included residences on 181st Street in Fresh Meadows and 166th and 172nd Streets in Hillcrest. Morales also struck homes on 218th and 214th Streets and 28th Avenue in Bayside, with additional burglaries in Glen Oaks, Murray Hill, Auburndale, and Whitestone.
Prosecutors established that Morales targeted large single-family houses, often cutting exterior wires to disable security systems before forcing entry. Along with cash, jewelry, and designer goods, he stole irreplaceable family home videos and a college ring.
His spree ended on February 15, 2023, after an Auburndale homeowner received an alert from a backyard motion-detection camera. Responding officers apprehended Morales as he fled through a shattered glass door. Surveillance footage helped connect him to earlier burglaries, and police recovered more than $400,000 in cash from his storage unit.
Following a jury trial, Morales was sentenced in May 2025 to consecutive prison terms totaling 28 to 30 years.
“Your home should be the safest place for you and your family. This defendant shattered that peace of mind for these victims,” Katz said.
A separate investigation involved residential burglaries and attempted break-ins between October 2024 and February 2025. Katz announced charges in February 2025 against Zengguo Chen, then 35, of Brooklyn.
On October 1, Chen allegedly entered a home on 177th Street in Fresh Meadows, stealing jewelry worth more than $3,000 and keys to the homeowner’s vehicle and safe-deposit box. Three days later, a home on 212th Street in Hollis Hills was allegedly burglarized, with jewelry, designer handbags, and a gold bar among the reported losses. Another residence on 215th Street was allegedly targeted on October 13. The investigation also involved incidents in Bayside and Jamaica Estates.
Chen was apprehended on February 3, 2025, following a reported attempted burglary in Forest Hills. Two NYPD officers were injured during the arrest, and police recovered tools allegedly associated with the break-ins.
Another case raised questions about electronic monitoring and the supervision of defendants accused of repeated burglaries.
In April 2026, Katz announced that Juan Acevedo of College Point and co-defendant Jeison Figueroa Nomesqui had been extradited from Panama to face burglary-related charges. Prosecutors alleged that Acevedo and accomplices used a rented Porsche to travel between homes burglarized on March 5, 2025, in Bayside, Queens Village, and Rego Park. Vehicle records and DNA evidence helped investigators connect the crimes.
Acevedo was arrested and arraigned on burglary charges in December 2025 and placed under supervised release with electronic monitoring. Investigators subsequently linked him to additional alleged crimes, including a December burglary on 166th Street in East Flushing, where approximately $20,000 in jewelry was stolen, and a February 2026 break-in on 229th Street in Oakland Gardens involving approximately $100,000 in cash and jewelry.
After the additional charges, prosecutors sought to have Acevedo remanded, but the court continued his electronic monitoring. On March 9, authorities received an alert that his ankle monitor had been cut. Police recovered the severed device near the Grand Central Parkway, but Acevedo had disappeared.
A month-long investigation involving the DA’s office, NYPD, FBI, and other authorities led to his apprehension at an airport in Panama on April 1, allegedly while attempting to travel using a forged Colombian passport. Nomesqui was also apprehended, and both defendants were returned to Queens and remanded without bail.
The episode illustrates a limitation of electronic monitoring: The monitor can alert authorities to a violation but it cannot physically prevent someone from fleeing.
The DA’s efforts have also extended to commercial and institutional burglaries. In September 2026, Katz and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch announced charges against Gregory Schroeder, 55, of Brooklyn, in connection with five burglaries and one attempted burglary during May and June. His alleged targets included a Woodhaven vocational school, an Ozone Park deli, a Ridgewood physical therapy center, a gas station, a residential building, and the Boys & Girls Club of Metro Queens in South Richmond Hill. Prosecutors reported approximately $9,300 in stolen cash, along with electronics. Schroeder was indicted on charges including burglary, grand larceny, and criminal mischief and was remanded following his September arraignment.
For local Jewish families, the repeated appearance of familiar streets underscores the importance of reliable home security, prompt reporting of suspicious activity, and preserving surveillance footage. The camera alert that helped apprehend Morales demonstrates how residents can assist police.
The investigations show how surveillance footage, forensic evidence, and cooperation among law enforcement agencies can connect crimes across neighborhoods. The larger challenge is recognizing those patterns early enough to prevent additional families from becoming victims.
By Shabsie Saphirstein
