QUEENS CHRONICLE, Thursday, July 25, 2019 Page 4
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Search for repeat St. Helen burglar Same man stole chalices from church nine years ago, cops say by Michael Shain Editor
Theodore Kurpiewski has been arrested twice before for breaking into the sacristy at St. Helen Roman Catholic Church in Howard Beach. The 30-year-old man is being sought again by police who suspect he just did it a third time. Surveillance photos of a burglar skulking around the offices of the church on 83rd Street were posted within hours of the break-in last Sunday. By Tuesday, police at the 106th Precinct tentatively identified the man in the photo as the same one who’d broken into St. Helen in March 2010 and January 2013. Chu rch of f icials told police nothing appeared to have been taken in the latest burglary. Kurpiewski, then 20, was arrested in 2010 for stealing $100 in cash and two chalices — including one belonging to the church’s then-pastor, the Rev. Robert Keighron — during the first robbery. His father returned the chalice several days after the break-in, which led police to Kurpiewski. Three years later, he was picked up again and charged with stealing $200 from the sacristy. He was also convicted of jumping bail after
his second arrest. The church is an easy target for thieves because security is relatively light — in keeping with a place of worship — and it is located just a few blocks from the Belt Parkway, which offers a quick get away. Police posted a “wanted” notice on Tuesday asking for information on Kurpiewski’s whereabouts. His name is associated in phone records at several addresses in Lindenwood, but none of the numbers appear to be working any longer. Public records from the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Services show he served a little more than two years in jail for the 2013 break-in and was released in August 2014. The records also show he was convicted of violating the conditions of his parole and sent back to prison last January to serve another three months. He was released in late March. Meanwhile, it is the second time in six months the church has been burglarized. In April, surveillance cameras captured a man pushing in the locked glass front doors of the sanctuary and a female companion entering the church where she emptied the donations boxes for parishioners who light votive candles. Police have not made an arrests in the earliQ er break-in.
Police are looking for Theodore Kurpiewski, left, in the burglary of St. Helen Church in Howard FILE PHOTO; LEFT, NYPD Beach last Sunday.
Cameras to be set up outside shelter Ozone Park Block Assn. raising $8G for neighborhood TV watch system by Michael Shain For the latest news visit qchron.com
Editor
Private surveillance cameras, bought with money raised in a GoFundMe campaign, are set to go up in trouble spots in Ozone Park — the first across from a newly opened homeless shelter. “The Ozone Park Residents Block Association has decided to take matters into our own hands,” read the test of a GoFundMe posting. The decision to implement an unofficial network of security is closely tied to a vandalism spree last week, when the windshields of three cars were smashed not far from the controversial homeless shelter that opened last spring at 86th Street and 101st Avenue. A resident of the shelter who’d been locked out after closing time was suspected. The operators of the shelter declined requests from police investigating the incidents to provide copies of its own surveillance footage. Administrators said it was the nonprofit’s policy to provide information to authorities only under subpoena. So far, police have not moved to serve the shelter with one.
In a photo taken during construction of the shelter, right, the deli directly across the street is slated to get a camera. GOGGLE MAPS The OPRBA, whose activist president, Sam Esposito, led the effort to try to block the shelter, expressed its displeasure with the shelter’s managers and, over the weekend, started planning to install its own cameras. An invoice for eight new cameras and related technical
services from a local security company was posted on the association’s Facebook page, indicating the group was moving quickly. The invoice showed the new system — including a camera atop BJ’s Deli on the corner opposite the shelter — will cost about $4,000. Shortly after, a GoFundMe page with a goal of $8,000, organized by the Esposito, appeared on the crowdfunding website. “We want the entire area to be outfitted with cameras that will allow us and the NYPD to monitor the area 24/7 to keep our residents safe,” it read. Esposito did not respond to messages seeking information on the plan. The GoFundMe ad said the group also planned to set up cameras in the parking lot of the Stop & Shop market on Atlantic Avenue “where young kids congregate, race cars and play loud music all hours of the night.” “An increased number of cameras is only a positive thing,” said Inspector Courtney Nilan, commander of the 102nd Precinct, “because it helps to deter crime or identify individuals, if Q a crime has been committed.”