A woman described as having a lengthy criminal history was busted in New York City Monday morning after allegedly breaking into Robert De Niro’s townhouse, while the actor and his daughter were home, according to police and media reports.
The woman, identified as Shanice Aviles, 30, was taken into custody around 2:45 a.m. and later charged with burglary, the New York Police Department said.
“Members of the 19 Precinct Public Safety Team observed a 30-year-old female, who is known to the department for numerous burglary arrests, enter a residence located in the vicinity of 65th Street between Lexington Avenue & Park Avenue,” the NYPD said in a statement to Urban Hollywood 411.
“The Public Safety Team entered the location and conducted an interior patrol where they discovered the female inside of the residence attempting to remove property,” the statement continued.
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Police said Aviles entered the home through a basement door, “which had signs of forced entry.”
According to the New York Post, which was one of the first outlets to report the story, the suspect was caught trying to use De Niro’s iPad and “stealing Christmas presents.”
Law enforcement sources told the outlet that officers had been monitoring Aviles after she was spotted trying to open doors to commercial buildings in the neighborhood, before settling on the townhouse.
De Niro and his daughter were upstairs at the time and were not aware of the break-in, according to The Post. A rep for the Oscar-winning actor told several media outlets the townhouse is a “temporary rental home.”
The paper described Aviles as having a history of “at least 26 prior arrests.” The outlet blamed New York state’s criminal justice reforms for allowing Aviles to remain on the streets.
This latest case is still under investigation, police said.
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