The work of a multi-county task force led to the arrest of four suspects in a home-burglary ring.
Three of the suspects were taken into custody Tuesday, Dec. 23, according to police, with the other arrested on drug charges
Schenectady police Sgt. Eric Clifford said officers arrested Anthony DeFilippo, Scott Shafer and Raymond Wilkens and charged them with participating in at least 21 burglaries. Clifford said there could be as many as 100 break-ins tied to them, spanning Albany, Schenectady and Saratoga counties.
Paul Sherwood was also arrested on charges of possession of crack cocaine and narcotics sales.
Police said the burglaries were likely related to the purchasing of narcotics.
We’re very happy with the investigation and with the work done by not only our detectives but the multi-jurisdictional task force, Clifford said.
He said they are expecting more arrests in connection with the string of burglaries.
The inter-municipal task force was made up of the Schenectady Police Department, the New York State Police, the Princetown Police Department, the Clifton Park Police Department, the Glenville Police Department, the Rotterdam Police Department, the Guilderland Police Department and the Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office.
`We’re still putting this together,` said. Capt. Curtis Cox of the Guilderland Police Department.
He added that police are still attempting to determine if several home robberies in Guilderland last month are connected to the suspects already in custody.
A timeline released by the Schenectady Police Department chronicled the events leading up to the arrest.
Shafer was originally identified as a person of interest after a string of burglaries in Bellevue in Schenectady County.
Shafer allegedly sold stolen property from several homes in late October, and was identified by an informant as a participant in other Capital District burglaries.
On Friday, Dec. 12, the New York State Police were notified of a string of Saratoga County robberies.
According to the timeline, a week later, Tashana Sykes, Wilkens’ girlfriend, was found to be in possession of a stolen laptop. Also that week, Shafer’s fingerprints were matched to the scene of a Schenectady County robbery in mid-November.
At this point, according to police, the multi-agency task-force was formed, and the three suspects were then taken into custody.
The information obtained led to a search warrant 1681 Avenue A in Schenectady, where police say Sherwood was residing, where several thousand dollars in stolen property was recovered in addition to the narcotics.
Police identified televisions, laptops and DVDs as some of the items stolen during the burglaries and are still investigating the matter.
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