Pei-Sze Cheng reporting on the pair charged with stealing more than a million dollars from the home of one of the accused’s ex-husband’s new girlfriend.
A Manhattan man and Connecticut woman who once dated allegedly teamed up to burglarize two homes belonging to an apparently wealthy victim who was romantically involved with another of the allegedly scorned woman's ex-lovers, prosecutors on Long Island say.
The proceeds of the crimes topped $1 million.
Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney sought to unravel the complex narrative at a news briefing Tuesday, explaining that Raymond Bouderau and Jacqueline Jewett allegedly targeted the victim, whose name has not been released, because of her relationship with Jewett's ex-husband -- and used the ex's Apple iCloud data to get her information.
With that access, Jewett allegedly learned of valuable possessions in the victim's two homes on Sag Harbor and in Manhattan. She also allegedly found out that the victim would be on vacation for the period in September during which the two residential burglaries were committed, Tierney said. They're accused of conspiring to carry out both.
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Investigators first opened the case on Sept. 27, when they responded to the victim's Sag Harbor home. It had been robbed two days earlier while the victim was out of town. According to court papers, cops found someone broke in through a basement window and apparently cut off some electricity to the home. Circuit breakers were flipped off.
The house had been ransacked and multiple safes had been compromised, investigators found. The homeowner hadn't been at her Sag Harbor residence since Sept. 22, three days before the robbery -- and reported more than $1 million in cash, jewelry, wine, firearms and other valuables had been stolen, prosecutors say.
Cops learned the woman had a second home in Manhattan, and it turns out that residence was also burglarized while the victim was on vacation. That one also happened on Sept. 25, according to court papers.
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Surveillance footage from both of the victim's homes as well as license plate reader and Apple iCloud data showed that a pickup truck registered to Bouderau had been in both Sag Harbor and Manhattan during the times of the burglaries. A search warrant for Apple iCloud data showed Jewett and Bouderau allegedly coordinated at length, developing an elaborate scheme to steal from the victim's homes while she was on vacation, officials said.
They found images of Bouderau to be consistent with the person seen in surveillance video from both burglary locations. Additional footage allegedly shows Bouderau and another person carrying items from the Sag Harbor burglary into Bouderau's Manhattan home in the hours after both burglaries were committed, prosecutors said.
A search warrant executed at Bouderau's Manhattan home in late November yielded many of the proceeds from the Sag Harbor burglary, including an AR-15 rifle and 50 bottles of stolen wine. Also recovered in his home was about 750 grams of a substance that field-tested positive for ketamine. He was arrested on felony charges of grand larceny and burglary and is also accused of fourth-degree conspiracy for his alleged role in the plot.
Jewett, who implicated herself in the case on the day she was questioned, according to Tierney, is charged with first-degree larceny and second-degree burglary, both felonies.
Both were arraigned in connection with the case on Friday. Bouderau, whoo calls himself a movie producer and actor who has worked with some of Hollywood's biggest names, was ordered held without bail. His representation is listed as The Legal Aid Society of Suffolk County, which had no immediate comment.
Bail for Jewett, a divorced mother of six, was set at $200,000 cash or $400,000 bond. Jewetts attorney told News 4 New York she pleaded not guilty. Jewett's attorney also said that his 57-year-old client had no prior involvement with the criminal justice system.
Tierney condemned the alleged behavior.
"Life is not like the movies," he said in a statement announcing the arrests. "These defendants thought it would be a good idea to pull a 'heist' wherein they secretly gathered criminal intelligence about their wealthy target, orchestrated unlawful intrusions into two locations and made off with well over a million dollars in proceeds."
Major Stephen Udice, Troop L Troop Commander with the New York State Police, called it a "good day" when a collaborative investigation concludes with such arrests for "heinous crimes."
The investigation is ongoing.
