Serial Burglar Caught After 8-Month Spree In Queens: DA

QUEENS, NY -- A Bronx man with a decades-long history of burglaries now faces life in prison for allegedly stealing jewelry, cash, laptops and other valuables from six homes in an eight-month spree across Queens.

Kenneth Dellaquila, 49, is behind bars awaiting his next court date after he was arrested on March 15 for allegedly going on yet another "brazen shopping spree in other people's homes" between July 2017 and March 2018, said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.

"As a predicate felon, the defendant now faces the possibility of being incarcerated for life," Brown said.

Dellaquila was caught on surveillance footage six separate times - sometimes alone and sometimes with an accomplice - sneaking into apartment buildings empty handed and leaving moments later with armfuls of goods, prosecutors said. He allegedly targeted homes in Forest Hills, Astoria, East Elmhurst and Howard Beach.

On Aug. 17, 2017, the Bronx man allegedly stole a laptop, watches and an Adidas backpack from one Queens homes, according to the complaints. He allegedly targeted another home less than a month later on Sept. 5, this time making off with jewelry and a watch.

Dellaquila is accused of swiping a camera and camera supplies, a laptop, an Adidas duffle bag and a jar of coins from another home on Sept. 22.

He was allegedly caught on tape holding the change jar while leaving the building and later identified himself in the surveillance photo in an interview with police, according to the complaint.

This isn't Dellaquila's first run-in with the law for sticky fingers. The Bronx man was first locked up on burglary and robbery charges in 1984, according to New York State Department of Corrections records. Two years after he was released, Dellaquila was booked again on burglary charges in 1990 and served four years behind bars.

By 1995, Dellaquila was back in prison again for burglary until January 2001, records show. In April 2003, he was convicted in yet another burglary and sent back to prison until June 2014.

Dellaquila was this time arraigned in Queens Criminal Court on four separate charges of second-degree burglary and false impersonation. He was held on a $50,000 bail and is slated to return to court on Thursday.

If convicted, the ex-con faces anywhere from 16 years to life in prison.

Lead photo via Shutterstock.