sdsubzero4
Spring Valley, CA
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Monday, December 29th 2008, 11:49 PM
A pair of real-life Grinches who terrorized a Queens family on Christmas Eve - stealing presents and tying up the parents as children slept - were foiled when the father got loose and followed them, police said.
Nicholas Papaleo and Constantino Christo, both of Brooklyn, were tooling around in Whitestone, dressed as cops and bent on robbing a drug deal on the night before Christmas, police said. When they saw Robert Kapovic outside his well-kept home, they figured he might offer just as much bounty and a lot less resistance.
"They acted like the Grinch in the Dr.Seuss classic, 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas,'" said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.
Wearing knockoff police gear, including bullet-proof vests and badges and sporting handcuffs and real-looking guns, the men grabbed Kapovic and pushed their way into his home, where Kapovic's wife, Deidre Capone, was waiting, police said.
Papaleo, 33, and Christo, 43, tied the couple up as their four children, ages 7, 3, 2 and 1, slept, and then searched the home for loot, police said.
Creeping through darkened bedrooms, the pair grabbed liquor, iPods, cameras, CDs, wedding rings, a diamond bracelet, a coin collection and $4,000 in cash, police said.
When Kapovic tried to break free, they pistol whipped him and then threatened his wife, ominously asking, "Do you ever want to see your kids?" police said.
Capone wriggled free but lay still until, after 3-1/2 hours, the crooks finally left her home in the early hours of Christmas Eve.
As soon as the duo left, Capone untied her husband and called the cops as Kapovic jumped in his car and followed the crooks. Police tracked Kapovic's car via OnStar, a security system available in GM cars, as he tailed the crooks. Cops captured the thieves and recovered the stolen goods.
The two crooks were charged with burglary, robbery, assault, impersonation and endangering the welfare of a child. Papaleo was held without bail and Christo held on $1 million bail.
"Don't answer the door for anybody," Kapovic said Monday. "That's what we are telling our children."
agendar@nydailynews.com
Monday, December 29th 2008, 11:49 PM
A pair of real-life Grinches who terrorized a Queens family on Christmas Eve - stealing presents and tying up the parents as children slept - were foiled when the father got loose and followed them, police said.
Nicholas Papaleo and Constantino Christo, both of Brooklyn, were tooling around in Whitestone, dressed as cops and bent on robbing a drug deal on the night before Christmas, police said. When they saw Robert Kapovic outside his well-kept home, they figured he might offer just as much bounty and a lot less resistance.
"They acted like the Grinch in the Dr.Seuss classic, 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas,'" said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.
Wearing knockoff police gear, including bullet-proof vests and badges and sporting handcuffs and real-looking guns, the men grabbed Kapovic and pushed their way into his home, where Kapovic's wife, Deidre Capone, was waiting, police said.
Papaleo, 33, and Christo, 43, tied the couple up as their four children, ages 7, 3, 2 and 1, slept, and then searched the home for loot, police said.
Creeping through darkened bedrooms, the pair grabbed liquor, iPods, cameras, CDs, wedding rings, a diamond bracelet, a coin collection and $4,000 in cash, police said.
When Kapovic tried to break free, they pistol whipped him and then threatened his wife, ominously asking, "Do you ever want to see your kids?" police said.
Capone wriggled free but lay still until, after 3-1/2 hours, the crooks finally left her home in the early hours of Christmas Eve.
As soon as the duo left, Capone untied her husband and called the cops as Kapovic jumped in his car and followed the crooks. Police tracked Kapovic's car via OnStar, a security system available in GM cars, as he tailed the crooks. Cops captured the thieves and recovered the stolen goods.
The two crooks were charged with burglary, robbery, assault, impersonation and endangering the welfare of a child. Papaleo was held without bail and Christo held on $1 million bail.
"Don't answer the door for anybody," Kapovic said Monday. "That's what we are telling our children."
agendar@nydailynews.com
