The Hollywood legend Robert De Niro’s townhouse in New York City was robbed early Monday morning while the 79 year-old former Godfather star was inside with his daughter.
De Niro Robbed
The New York Post reported that repeat offender Shanice Aviles, 30, broke into De Niro’s townhouse on the Upper East Side at around 2:30am. Officers with the NYPD’s 19th Precinct Public Safety team had already been watching Aviles, who is described as a “known burglar” with more than 25 arrests on her rap sheet, after she was seen trying to open doors to commercial buildings in the neighborhood.
Police found Aviles on the second floor of De Niro’s townhouse, where she was trying to access the actor’s iPad.
“She was stealing Christmas presents,” said a police official.
De Niro was upstairs and his 11 year-old daughter was in a bedroom of the home, which costs $69,000 a month to rent. Aviles has since been arrested and hit with charges relating to this robbery. Sources say that she has been busted 16 times for burglary and petit larceny during 2022 alone.
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“Back in the saddle with this perp,” added a police source.
Related: Robert De Niro’s Bitter Divorce Ends With Judge Ruling Whether Wife Grace Hightower Deserves Half
Aviles’ Previous Charges
Records show that just last Wednesday, Aviles was arraigned on charges connected to two Queens burglaries, and she was then released without bail. She was reportedly accused of stealing $1,000 in cash from St. Patrick’s Church in Dutch Kills on October 23 after she allegedly broke into an apartment on October 1, leaving with a debit card that she used to charge $50 at local 7-11.
Aviles was later arrested for seven burglaries in the 19th Precinct between November 25 and December 8. She had previously been arraigned on October 11 for five different burglaries dating back to August 19.
In one of these robberies, which occurred on October 3, a 68-year-old homeowner allegedly found Aviles hiding behind his fridge after he woke up and realized that his wallet was not where he had left it by his bed. He then got into a scuffle with Aviles that resulted in him stabbing her in the leg.
“This is just another example of the catch-and-release justice system we’re dealing with,” the police official said, adding that Aviles is “one of the [19th Precinct’s] top five burglars.”
Related: Mickey Rourke Reignites Old Feud, Calls Robert De Niro A ‘Crybaby’
De Niro Refuses To Comment
De Niro’s reps declined to comment on the robbery when they were contacted.
“We are not making any statements at this time about the robbery at the temporary rental home of Robert De Niro,” Media Strategies Representation Consulting said in a statement.
De Niro has lived in New York all his life, and he sold the townhouse that he owned for 37 years in the West Village for $9.5 million back in 2012. During the COVID-19 pandemic, De Niro relocated to his home in upstate New York.
Crime in New York and other liberal-run cities is completely out of control right now, and this is just more evidence of that. Here’s hoping that the criminal justice system finally throws the book at Aviles, because she does not seem like someone who will stop her thieving ways anytime soon if she is allowed to be a free woman again.
