Intruder robs Robert De Niro’s home while he’s inside

A serial burglar was caught red-handed rifling through Robert De Niro’s Manhattan townhouse – while the actor and his daughter were upstairs.

Robert De Niro. Picture: Roy Rochlin/Getty

A serial burglar was caught red-handed rifling through Robert De Niro’s Manhattan townhouse early Monday — fiddling with the actor’s iPad and grabbing presents under his Christmas tree, sources told The Post.

The 30-year-old woman, identified as Shanice Aviles, crept down a stairwell leading to the 79-year-old star’s townhouse on the Upper East Side around 2:30am, the sources said.

Eagle-eyed cops with the NYPD’s 19th Precinct Public Safety team had been keeping an eye on Aviles — a “known burglar” with more than 25 arrests on her rap sheet — after she was spotted trying to open doors to commercial buildings in the neighbourhood before she got to the townhouse, according to the sources.

The cops trailed her into De Niro’s home and found her on the second floor – fumbling around with the star’s iPad, the sources said.

“She was stealing Christmas presents,” a police official added.

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De Niro and his daughter were not aware they were being robbed. Picture: Roy Rochlin/Getty

There are photos of De Niro all over the house, according to the sources – but the actor himself was nowhere in sight. He was upstairs and his daughter was in a bedroom, according to the sources. None of the residents knew what was going on, the sources said.

The officers busted Aviles inside the $US69k-a-month rental home, with charges now pending against her, the sources said.

Aviles has at least 26 prior arrests, mostly for burglaries, which are not eligible for bail under the state’s controversial criminal justice reforms — allowing her to go free.

The sticky-fingered thief began her crimes during the pandemic.

Shanice Aviles after her arrest. Picture: G.N.Miller/NYPost

Aviles allegedly entered De Niro’s home around 2:30am. Picture: G.N.Miller/NYPost

This year alone, she has been busted 16 times for burglary and petit larceny, according to the sources.

“Back in the saddle with this perp,” said a police source.

Records show Aviles was arraigned on charges connected to two Queens burglaries just last Wednesday and released without bail, according to records and sources.

In those cases, she was accused of stealing $US1,000 in cash from St. Patrick’s Church in Dutch Kills on Oct. 23 and of ransacking an apartment on Oct. 1, making off with a debit card. She later used the card to charge more than $US50 at local 7-11, according to the criminal complaint against her.

The woman who robbed De Niro’s NYC townhouse was known to police. Picture: Craig Barritt/Getty

Aviles was picked up for seven burglaries in the 19th Precinct – which covers the Upper East Side – between Nov. 25 and Dec. 8, the sources said.

She was arrested for six burglaries on Dec. 8, the police official said.

Prior to that, Aviles was arraigned on Oct. 11 on three separate burglaries in Manhattan dating to August, according to a criminal complaint.

Those included an Oct. 11 heist in which a 68-year-old homeowner allegedly found her hiding behind his fridge when he woke up and realised his wallet was missing from his night table.

He allegedly caught the thief hiding behind his fridge and got into a scuffle with her, stabbing her in the leg, according to the complaint.

On Oct. 3, Aviles allegedly broke into a woman’s apartment and made off with a bag, $200 in cash, a ring and other items. The victim told police she woke up and saw the thief walking in through her front door — but was so scared she stayed in bed and watched as the suspect robbed her, according to the complaint.

Aviles was also charged with stealing $US2,000 in coupons from an East 70th Street community centre on Aug. 19, the records show.

“This is just another example of the catch-and-release justice system we’re dealing with,” the police official said.

A source described Aviles as “one of the [19th Precinct’s] top five burglars.”

Reps for De Niro declined to comment on Monday’s burglary.

“We are not making any statements at this time about the robbery at the temporary rental home of Robert De Niro,” Media Strategies Representation Consulting said in an email to The Post on Monday.

This story originally appeared on Page Six and is republished here with permission.

Originally published as Intruder robs Robert De Niro’s home while he’s inside