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Snake fails to give cops the slip

What a snake!

A wormy burglar was arrested on July 23 after he wiggled his way out of an air conditioner vent at a Bergen Beach home — one of six break-ins reported to authorities this past week.

Cops said the lanky 17-year-old thief, who had been arrested for burglary previously, entered the address on E. 71st Street and Avenue N at 7:30 am, after the 61-year-old homeowner left.

He got inside, swiped a wallet containing $7,500, and had just crawled out of the home when cops apprehended him.

“We found a wallet on him that had an ID of the person who owned the house,” a police source told this paper.

Cops from the 63rd Precinct said they’re trying to connect the thief to other break-ins residents suffered through this last week.

Other burglaries include:

•?Someone forced the rear door to a home on East 72nd Street between avenues L and M, but nothing was taken.

•?A crook snapped the lock to the front door of a home on East 41st Street between Kings Highway and Flatlands Avenue on July 23 and raided a safe, taking a checkbook, passport and birth certificate.

•?A thief broke into an East 38th Street home between avenues I and J on July 7, removing $100 and some electronics, but the theft wasn’t reported until last week.

While the six break-ins that took place between July 19 and 25 were comparable to the same week in 2009, cops have seen a massive jump in burglaries over the last month — 23 over the last 28-day period versus just nine that took place in July, 2009.

According to NYPD statistics, the precinct is suffering a 40 percent jump in burglaries this year — 134 versus the 96 break-ins that took place last year, they said.

Captain Patricia McDonald, the 63rd Precinct’s executive officer, said these hard times can be blamed on burglary crews that have been burning the way through this part of the borough.

“We have a couple of active patterns we’re investigating,” she said, explaining that prevention is still key in halting a burglar’s success.

If residents make sure their windows are closed and locked and that their air conditioner’s are secured in their windows, opportunistic thieves won’t have a method of entry, she said.

Anyone with information regarding burglaries in their neighborhood can call either the 63rd Precinct at (718) 258-4411 or the NYPD CrimeStoppers hotline at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.