Thieves in the Night: A Vast Burglary Ring From Chile Has Been Targeting Wealthy U.S. Households
2020—the four suspects were about to step right into it. “We had everything planned out,” says the lead detective on the case.
That’s Jesus Bonilla, of the Nassau County Police. The detective recalls the tension he felt as he waited with other officers on a residential street in College Point, Queens. For months he had been pursuing a four-member crew that included its reputed leader, Bryan Herrera Maldonado. Though only 24, he was said to be among the most wanted burglars in the New York City area. Bonilla estimates that Maldonado’s gang broke into at least 100 private homes across the country. They allegedly stole cash, jewelry, electronics, watches, and designer clothes and handbags—loot Bonilla believes amounted to millions—from mansions in towns like Bronxville, Greenwich, Hewlett Harbor, Old Westbury, and Sands Point. But that was just a fraction of the haul Maldonado was alleged to have swiped on a “theft tour” across the U.S. and in various countries around the world.
According to authorities, at 8 p.m. Maldonado and his accomplices pulled up at a modest, two-story house a block away from a park that juts out into the treacherous waters where the East River meets the Long Island Sound. Less than two hours earlier, the crew had allegedly hit an estate in Saddle River, New Jersey, one of the wealthiest zip codes in the country. While ransacking the place, he and his team didn’t know the police were staking out Maldonado’s rented home in Queens.
2020—the four suspects were about to step right into it. “We had everything planned out,” says the lead detective on the case.
That’s Jesus Bonilla, of the Nassau County Police. The detective recalls the tension he felt as he waited with other officers on a residential street in College Point, Queens. For months he had been pursuing a four-member crew that included its reputed leader, Bryan Herrera Maldonado. Though only 24, he was said to be among the most wanted burglars in the New York City area. Bonilla estimates that Maldonado’s gang broke into at least 100 private homes across the country. They allegedly stole cash, jewelry, electronics, watches, and designer clothes and handbags—loot Bonilla believes amounted to millions—from mansions in towns like Bronxville, Greenwich, Hewlett Harbor, Old Westbury, and Sands Point. But that was just a fraction of the haul Maldonado was alleged to have swiped on a “theft tour” across the U.S. and in various countries around the world.
According to authorities, at 8 p.m. Maldonado and his accomplices pulled up at a modest, two-story house a block away from a park that juts out into the treacherous waters where the East River meets the Long Island Sound. Less than two hours earlier, the crew had allegedly hit an estate in Saddle River, New Jersey, one of the wealthiest zip codes in the country. While ransacking the place, he and his team didn’t know the police were staking out Maldonado’s rented home in Queens.