FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, July 21, 2015
Brooklyn Man Indicted For String of Gunpoint Home Invasions, Robberies and Burglaries
Defendant Allegedly Burglarized Numerous Apartments and Made Off With Banking Cards, Cash, Electronics and Other Valuables
Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson today announced that a Brownsville man was indicted for allegedly carrying out a months-long string of home invasions, burglaries and robberies at gunpoint, which mostly targeted women in and around his neighborhood.
District Attorney Thompson said, “This defendant is accused of terrorizing several Brooklyn residents, violating the sanctity of their homes and robbing them of money and property. He is now going to be held accountable for each and every charged crime.”
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Lorenzo Chambers, 24, of 569 Osborn Street in Brownsville, Brooklyn. He was arraigned today in front of Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice William Miller on a 19-count indictment that includes five counts of first-degree robbery, three counts of first-degree burglary and related charges. The defendant faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted on the top count in which he is charged with.
District Attorney Thompson said that the indictment pertains to four early morning incidents dating back to May and June 2015. Chambers is also charged with possession of stolen property in connection to at least one additional burglary from February 2015.
On May 10, 2015, at about 3:45 a.m., the defendant approached a woman who was returning to her home on East 92nd Street in Brownsville, according to the investigation. He allegedly brandished what appeared to be a pistol, forced the victim at gunpoint to give him her bank card and PIN number and fled.
On May 31, 2015, at about 2:30 a.m., the defendant allegedly broke into a house on Avenue L in Canarsie, Brooklyn and confronted the homeowner who was using her computer. She gave him cash, but he demanded more money and led her to the bedroom, where she was forced at gunpoint to hand over more cash as well a bank card and its PIN number, according to the indictment.
On June 12, 2015, at about 4:18 a.m., two sisters who were sleeping in their East 59th Street home in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, allegedly awakened to find the defendant with what appeared to be a firearm. One of the women offered him a handbag and an iPad, but he demanded bank cards, the investigation found. He allegedly took her keys and other items before going to her sister’s bedroom. The defendant then allegedly demanded a chain that was on the woman’s neck and, when she refused, struck her with a guitar and fled.
On June 13, 2015, at about 6:55 a.m., a man entered his basement apartment on Tilden Avenue in East Flatbush and allegedly saw the defendant inside with a gun. He shut the door and yelled to a friend who was with him to flee. The friend spotted the defendant climbing over a backyard fence and then saw him riding away on a bicycle, pointing a gun in one hand while holding an Xbox gaming console that he stole from the apartment, according to the indictment.
The District Attorney said that footage of the defendant riding his bike was circulated in the Police Department and the media and that the victims of the June 13 incident identified the suspect in a photo array. On June 24, 2015, patrol officers who were familiar with the case observed Chambers and detained him.
Officers executed a search warrant on the defendant’s residence and recovered electronic equipment, jewelry and ladies’ handbags. The property included a tablet computer that was allegedly stolen during a residential burglary in February 2015.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Lawrence Mottola and Assistant District Attorney Jonathan Glusband of the District Attorney’s Trial Bureau II – Blue Zone, under the supervision of Frances Weiner, Chief