WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES JULY 26, 2018 3
Maspeth family members get 10 years for burglaries targeting seniors
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BY RYAN KELLEY
RKELLEY@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
TWITTER @R_KELLEY
Three Maspeth residents are
headed to prison for targeting
elderly homeowners in a series
of burglaries in 2016, according to the
Queens District Attorney's offi ce.
District Attorney Richard A. Brown
announced on July 24 that Tony Cristo,
37, and his ex-wife Teresa Howard, 38,
both of 69th Street in Maspeth were
each sentenced to 10 years in prison
plus fi ve years of post-release supervision
for their roles in the crimes.
Cristo's sister, Rosie Cristo, 34, of
69th Lane in Maspeth was sentenced
to 3 1/2 years in prison and 2 1/2 years
of post-release supervision.
Tony Cristo and Howard both pleaded
guilty to second-degree burglary,
and Rosie Cristo pleaded guilty to
second-degree attempted burglary —
with all counts classifi ed as hate crimes,
resulting to enhanced sentences.
According to the charges, a 91-year-old
woman was in her Flushing home on 50th
Avenue on July 25, 2016, when an unapprehended
female entered the home through
the unlocked front door and claimed to
be the homeowner's granddaughter.
Minutes later, the homeowner's daughter
entered the home, confronted the
suspect and escorted her out of the home
where she observed the suspect enter
a green Pontiac with Tony Cristo in the
driver's seat. The homeowner's daughter
then approached the vehicle, told Cristo to
leave and said she was calling the police.
In a second criminal complaint,
Howard and Rosie Cristo, along with
a 10-year-old girl, rang the doorbell of
an 83-year-old Maspeth woman’s home
on 56th Drive on Aug. 10. Howard and
Cristo told the homeowner they wanted
to speak to the upstairs tenant. When
told that the tenant wasn't available, the
two women asked for a pen and paper to
leave a note and then left with the child.
Hours later, the homeowner discovered
that her purse was missing, which
contained $60 in cash, photographs, a
non-driver's identifi cation card and
medical insurance cards.
That same morning, Howard and two
unapprehended suspects along with a
9-year-old girl entered a home on 69th
Street in Jackson Heights and asked the
homeowners — a 90-year-old man and
his 88-year-old wife — if they could look at
construction work that was happening in
the home, according to another complaint.
The female homeowner was in her
bed in the bedroom when Howard and
the unapprehended female entered the
room claiming to be former neighbors
of the homeowner, but they were not
known to her.
Aft er Howard and the unapprehended
suspects left , the victim discovered
that $6,400 in cash was missing from
the top drawer of her dresser.
Ten days later on Aug. 20, 2016, an
86-year-old Elmhurst man was in his
Benham Street home when he heard a
knock on the door and let Howard inside
believing that she was a woman he
knew named "Maria." He later realized
that she was not Maria, according to
the complaint.
Howard asked to use the bathroom
on at least 10 occasions, during which
time the homeowner could hear her
using her phone in the bathroom. It is
unknown if any valuables were taken
from the home.
Lastly, a 61-year-old Elmhurst man
was in his Woodside Avenue home on
Aug. 26, 2016, when two women — one
heavyset and the other slim — entered
his home.
Aft er a few minutes, both women left
the home and the homeowner realized
that approximately $200 in cash that
was rolled up in a rubber band was
missing from his dresser drawer, as
well as a Chase credit card that had
been in his wallet in the drawer.
Police then observed Tony Cristo in
the driver's seat of a green Mazda as
Rosie Cristo and Howard were walking
away from the vicinity of the residence
and got into the Mazda. When
police stopped the vehicle, they recovered
cake and a sum of cash rolled up
with a rubber band. The credit card
was recovered in the police car that
transported Howard to the precinct.
Photo via Shutterstock
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