Man falls out window to his death after home invasion in Upper Manhattan
WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, Manhattan (WABC) -- A burglary in Upper Manhattan ultimately led to the death of a 73-year-old man.
Police say a man broke into a sixth-floor window of the apartment near West 161st Street and Broadway in Washington Heights just after 4:30 a.m. Saturday.
The man then unlocked the front door and let in two more men.
They tied up a 40-year-old man living there and stole $8.000 gold chain and $200 in cash before fleeing.
Jacinto Remigio, 73, was not in the apartment at the time of the home invasion. He was walking his dog. By the time he returned, the break-in was over and his son had called the police
It is now believed Remigio fell to his death while closing the window to his apartment.
Remigio's apartment had been targeted by burglars at least three times in the past. He owned a sneaker store, and neighborhood people believed he has cash in the apartment.
The responding officers asked Remigio for his identification, and he went to retrieve the document from the room with the open window used by the suspects to access the apartment
Detectives believe he was intoxicated when he attempted to close the window and accidentally fell out
"It's just terrible. And my condolences to him and his entire family - it's awful," said neighbor Henrique Sobrinho.
There are cameras in the building and detectives are now investigating.
As for how one of the suspects got up to the sixth-floor window, the victim's loved ones tell Eyewitness News he climbed up the scaffolding around the building and then went up the fire escape to the top floor.
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