Todt Hill Residents On Edge After String Of Overnight Burglaries

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- You're sleeping and they're stealing.

Police are searching for burglars that are targeting homes in several posh Staten Island neighborhoods in the middle of the night. It's happened at least five times, reports CBS 2's John Slattery.

On Monday, Slattery saw one Todt Hill mansion that was burglarized. Another one a few blocks away was also hit, as was John Amore's Richmondtown house, last week.

"It's tremendously upsetting and [I'm] looking for ways to improve security around the house," Amore said.

1010 WINS' Terry Sheridan reports: Todt Hill Residents On Edge

The latest burglary, last Wednesday, took place on Morton Street. No one was at home. Police said the incident happened at around 1 a.m. Burglars forced open a rear window, went inside and set off motion detectors.

The owner got a call from his security company and a neighbor went inside.

"They took some watches, cuff links, minor jewelry and stuff like that," Amore said.

Before the Richmondtown burglary last Wednesday, there were three in Todt Hill, all in August. In most cases the residents were home asleep. The first home in the spree was in Grymes Hill on July 13. Cathy Pugliese is a neighbor of one of the victims.

"It's kind of an affluent area and we're a prime target. I guess [they are] gonna find jewelry and money," Pugliese said.

That's what's being targeted, police said, especially with the high price of gold.

Last year, Todt Hill and surrounding high-end areas were hit at least six times by professional burglars that disabled alarms.

And in 2007 to 2008, the area was hit by the so-called "Ninja Bandit," who was spotted wearing black ninja-style clothing. He was never caught.

So now, Staten Island has a new burglary pattern to be concerned about, and reason to keep homes properly secured.

Police said it's not clear if last year's heists, and the recent ones, are related.