GN man arrested in burglary spree – again

Dan Glaun

Nassau County police charged Great Neck resident David Mintz in a string of thefts across the county on Sunday – 10 months after Mintz was implicated in a series of Northern Boulevard burglaries by Queens prosecutors.

Mintz faces 11 counts of burglary and two counts of attempted burglary for allegedly stealing or trying to steal from a number of restaurants and businesses from Sept. 3 through Sept. 8, as well for an alleged breaking-and-entering from October last year. 

His arrest in Nassau could also lead to prosecution from the Queens District Attorney’s office. 

Mintz pleaded guilty to a charge of burglary in January after his arrest last year for a string of burglaries in Little Neck, but according to Kevin Ryan, a spokesman for the Queens District Attorney’s office, Mintz never showed up for his sentencing hearing, 

“He failed to appear in court and a bench warrant was issued for his arrest,” Ryan said.

A 7th Precinct police officer responded to an alarm at Sushi Ko Restaurant in Merrick at 4:45 a.m. on Sunday and saw Mintz, 31, allegedly fleeing out the back of the storefront, according to a police report.

The detective stopped Mintz and found that Mintz had broken the rear glass door with a brick, allegedly entering the restaurant and taking an undetermined amount of money from the register that was then recovered at the scene, according to the report.

A subsequent investigation implicated Mintz in an Oct. 9, 2012 breaking-and-entering in Uniondale, a Sept. 2 burglary of the China Wok restaurant in Great Neck Plaza, a Sept. 3 burglary on South Middle Neck Road in Thomaston and three thefts on Sept. 4 and 5 in Port Washington.

Mintz allegedly entered China Wok at about 11:00 p.m. Sept. 2, took the restaurant’s cash register across the street, broke the register by throwing it on the ground and made off with $800, according to arraignment documents.

In the Port Washington burglaries, Mintz allegedly stole $500 from a Haven Avenue deli, took two cell phones from Dell Transportation and stole $275 from the Chinese restaurant Dynasty of Port Washington.

Mintz’s alleged crime spree continued through this past weekend. 

According to police, on Sept. 5 Mintz allegedly used force to enter Toscanini Ristorante Italiano in Port Washington and removed a lock box from the office. On Saturday and Sunday Mintz allegedly burglarized or broke into four additional buildings in Merrick.

According to arraignment documents, police obtained written or sworn confessions from Mintz for all the allegedly break-ins with the exception of the October Uniondale burglary. For that charge, police wrote they had linked Mintz to a palm print found at the scene.

Last November Mintz was charged with stealing from five businesses on a strip of Northern Boulevard near the Little Neck Parkway from Aug. 17 through Nov. 2.

According to the Queen’s District Attorney, he pleaded guilty to one felony burglary but has an outstanding warrant out for his arrest after allegedly failing to appear at his sentencing hearing.

The stolen goods on Northern Boulevard ranged from a wine bottle to $8,000 in cash to a desktop computer, according to criminal complaints. 

The Queens District Attorney’s office initially charged Mintz with multiple counts of burglary, grand larceny, petty larceny and criminal possession of stolen property.

As of November has year, Mintz was also facing prosecution from for crawling under turnstile at a Greenwich Village subway station, police said. 

NYPD transit officer Yeuris Mejia arrested Mintz on misdemeanor charges of theft of service and criminal trespassing, as well as criminal possession of a weapon after allegedly finding him in possession of a box cutter.

And in Nassau,  Mintz has previously charged with a misdemeanor count of petty theft after allegedly taking $500 from behind the bar at Potter’s Pub in East Meadow.

Mintz, who was arraigned Monday, is represented by Legal Aid and is being held on $180,000 bond, according to the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office.

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