Shanice Aviles serial robber arrested red-handed while stealing Robert De Niro’s Christmas presents at the famed actor’s UES residence while he slept upstairs.
A serial robber denoted as one of the top five robbers in one NYC precinct by the NYPD was over the weekend busted trying to steal Robert De Niro’s Christmas presents from under the famed actor’s Christmas tree at his Upper East side townhouse residence.
Shanice Aviles, 30, was arrested after she was allegedly spotted entering De Niro’s East 65th Street home at 2.45am in Manhattan and charged her with burglary, while the actor was home, albeit on another floor upstairs, ABC7 TV reported.
ABC said police saw Aviles in the neighborhood where she had been arrested numerous times previously and followed her as she tried several front doors. After losing sight of her, they then saw an open door to a townhouse and went inside, police said.
The residence turned out to belong to De Niro, and Aviles was caught inside taking presents from under the Christmas tree in the home and stuffing them in a bag. ‘All the commotion woke up De Niro, who came downstairs to see what was going on,’ ABC reported.
Police did not know the residence that Aviles had broken into was De Niro’s house until after the commotion. At the time of entering the residence, cops caught the serial robber fumbling around with the star’s iPad, according to a source, the nypost reported.
Burglar Shanice Aviles busted at Robert De Niro’s NYC townhouse @KathyHochul CATCH AND RELEASE IS INCENTIVIZING CRIME. https://t.co/jkBkWoyAwu
— Tracey DeSimone (@TADeSimone) December 19, 2022
Serial robber repeatedly avoids having to make bail
Aviles has 26 prior arrests including 16 for burglaries and petit larcenies, most of which are not eligible for bail under the state’s controversial criminal justice reforms — allowing her to go free. She is described as one of the NYPD’s ‘most prolific recidivist burglars.’
The sticky-fingered thief began her crimes during the pandemic.
This year alone, she has been busted 16 times for burglary and petit larceny, according to sources, the nypost reported.
Records show Aviles was arraigned on charges connected to two Queens burglaries just last Wednesday and released without bail, according to records and sources. It remained unclear if the cat burglar would be forced to make bail on this particular occasion.
A source described Aviles as ‘one of the [19th Precinct’s] top five burglars.’
A lifelong New Yorker, De Niro sold his West Village townhouse of 37 years for $9.5 million in 2012. The “Goodfellas” actor relocated to his home in upstate New York during the pandemic and now resides in his Upper East side residence which he rents for $69K a month.
De Niro is one of the most acclaimed actors of his generation with a reputation for playing tough guys in such films as The Godfather, Taxi Driver, Heat and Raging Bull. The two-time Academy Award winner and Aviles had ‘no interaction’.
