(TJVNEWS) Not only will 2020 be remembered as the year of coronavirus, but tragically, violent crime has skyrocketed in just about every part of the country.
According to NYPD data, thieves committed 204 home-invasion robberies in 2020, a 7 percent increase from the 190 reported in 2019, and that points to the pandemic as a factor in the uptick in the often-terrifying crimes, according to a New York Post report.
Just to offer an example, the Post reported that a home invasion in the East Village left two people shot and a third injured on December 22nd, according to the Post report. The 3 gunmen were wearing all black when they busted into the apartment.
During a botched home robbery in Staten Island in May, two people, a pregnant woman, and her boyfriend were fatally shot by home invaders.
In 2021, thus far, home invasions have significantly increased. There were 56 home invasions reported through February 28th, according to the NYP report. NYPD statistics show that the city was put on-page for more than 300 this year alone.
On January 27th, the NYP reported that armed crooks were caught on video forcing their way into a Bronx home — where they threw a 75-year-old woman on the ground and held her and two men at gunpoint before making off with $2,000.The Post reported that on January 31st, armed robbers bound an Upper East Side resident and his Madison Avenue doorman and made off with more than $10,000 in cash and rare coins.
The NYP reported that in the early hours of February 5th, two armed men broke into a Jamaica, Queens residence, tied up at least six people, and stole three copies of a safe key, police sources said.
Now that people are working at home due to coronavirus restrictions, robbers and home invaders have more easy targets, according to the NYP. Recently, a pair of robbers who were dressed as plumbers took two men hostage & tortured them in an apartment in the Bronx for hours. They ended up fleeing with a cell phone and $2000.
Joseph Giacalone, a retired NYPD sergeant who teaches at John Jay College of Criminal Justice told the post that, “these people, NYC residents, are sitting ducks. Suspects that do home invasions don’t care who is inside. Women, children. It’s part of their plan, to cause fear and terror in their victims.”
“The suspects in these cases steamroll into your home with guns and restraints and it’s happening more frequently due to the pandemic. Nobody thought the lockdowns would be going on this long,” he said. He explained that home invasions are more sinister than the far more common burglary, he explained. A “garden variety” burglar is usually unarmed and “waits for you to leave before entering and taking your stuff.
“Even a slight uptick in home invasions warrants a concern,” Giacalone added. “Many home invasions involve drug dealers robbing drug dealers and the chance of retaliation becomes high.” (Source: newyorkpost.com)
