Robert De Niro was the victim of a robbery on early Monday. The actor’s townhouse in New York City was burglarized while he was home, and it seems intruders were trying to find Christmas gifts.
A woman was caught by police at the star’s Upper East Side home, and according to law enforcement sources, she is a “known burglar” with 26 prior arrests, named Shanice Aviles.
The 30-year-old trespasser entered De Niro’s home at around 2:30 a.m. The NYPD source told The Post that Aviles “was stealing Christmas presents” and playing with his iPad.
It was also reported that there was no interaction between the 79-year-old actor and the burglar, as De Niro was upstairs with his daughter, and was not aware of what was happening downstairs.
© Andrew Morales for VarietyThe NYPD says that the woman had been seen before trying to open doors to commercial buildings, with most of her crimes taking place during the coronavirus pandemic, and she even committed around seven burglaries between November 25 and December 8 in the same area of the city.
The Hollywood star is known for being a New York City resident. De Niro grew up in Manhattan and he “intends to reside in Gardiner for the foreseeable future,” his attorney Caroline Krauss explained, adding that “He is after all 76 and in the category of people for which COVID-19 is dangerous.”
