Have rock, will rob.
That was the mantra of a ten-time loser responsible for breaking into stores across Borough Park and Kensington last month – that is, before he ended up in the sights of Police Officer Sammy Tong.
The anti-crime officer was named “Cop of the Month” for arresting the burglar after catching him breaking into a store on 18th Avenue, said Inspector Peter DiBlasio, the commanding officer of the 66th Precinct.
Police allege that Edwin Comacho, 37, was a one-person epidemic.
For several nights, he would walk along Church and 18th avenues and shatter store windows with rocks and hunks of concrete, officials allege.
He would then run into the store, grab the cash register and whatever else he could find, and ran off into the night, officials said.
DiBlasio said that once a pattern was found Tong and the rest of the Anti-Crime team mapped out the spots, as well as the days and times that the break-ins took place.
They would then begin to stake out areas where the thief was expected to hit next, officials said.
Late last month, Tong was patrolling a corner on 18th Avenue when he saw Camacho standing by a pay phone.
Finding that the 37-year-old was acting suspiciously, Tong watched Camacho until he picked up a rock and threw it through a store display window.
Tong jumped into action and arrested Camacho without incident.
Police later connected Camacho, who had been in prison a few years earlier for committing a robbery, to all ten store burglaries that occurred in the last few weeks where windows and glass doors were broken, officials said.
His arrest also led police to other crimes, officials said.
DiBlasio claimed that when questioned, Camacho said that he had some information about a murder that took place in Queens.
Cops were reportedly looking into the burglar’s tip as this paper went to press.
“He [Camacho] lived in the confines of the 66th Precinct, but now he has a new address – he’s in jail,” said DiBlasio. “He won’t be getting out anytime soon.
— Tom Tracy
