Nov 26, 2007 7:37 pm US/Eastern
Police: S.I. 'Ninja Bandit' Strikes For 18th Time
Burglar Who Dresses As Ninja, Carries Nunchakus, Hits Two More Homes
STATEN ISLAND (CBS) ―
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Staten Island has been plagued by a burglar police say dresses like a ninja and steals money and jewelry from unsuspecting residents.
A man who dresses from head-to-toe as a ninja, complete with samurai-style weapons, and burglarizes homes in mostly upscale areas of Staten Island, has struck again, police believe, twice over the weekend.
That would bring the total houses that police say the so-called "ninja bandit" has struck to 18.
"I don't even want to stay in the house anymore," says Todt Hill resident Jean Interlandi who owns one of the homes that was hit.
Interlandi says Saturday night, her husband had to be taken to a nearby hospital by ambulance. When she returned Sunday, a rear sliding door had been opened and $50,000 in jewelry was gone.
"I think it's a terrible thing. I feel terrible, really terrible," she says.
After midnight Sunday, a house few doors away from Interlandi's was also hit. A burglar went up to the second floor terrace, entered an open window, took $20,000 in jewelry, $7,000 in cash, and $50,000 in watches.
Even though no one saw the bandit in these latest two intrusions, they're very similar to 16 others attributed to the bandit.
Police say the suspect struck a home on Jefferson Avenue on Sept. 6. That's where a frightened Phil Chiolo saw the intruder dressed in black, holding a pair of nunchaku, and striking Chiolo on the collar bone and the head.
"And there, standing facing me, was a ninja, a guy dressed like a ninja," said Chiolo at the time.
Chiolo claimed to have stabbed the bandit in the chest with a knife before he ran from the house, the knife's handle still emerging from his chest.
Two weeks later, on Flagg Place, Maryann Carlo saw the man in her home.
"I turned to go down the hallway and there he was," she recalls.
The ninja bandit has struck a least five neighborhoods since May 30th. Police believe they're all connected.
"No forced entry, it's part of the pattern we believe on Staten Island," said NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly.
The so-called "Ninja Bandit" has slipped into the homes via skylights, windows and front doors, making off with cash, jewelry and a cell phone, police said.
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