South Jersey Man Whose $2 Million Burglary Spree Began And Ended In Moorestown Sentenced

Moorestown, NJ -- A South Jersey man has been sentenced to 17 years in state prison for a $2 million burglary spree that spanned six towns, beginning and ending in Moorestown, between October of 2011 and August of 2012, Burlington County Prosecutor Robert D. Bernardi announced on Monday.

Darius Gittens, 57, of Medford, must serve eight years in prison before becoming eligible for parole.

The sentence covers a combination of charges to which Gittens pled guilty to in January 2016, and was found guilty of at trial in December 2015.

In total, the charges include four counts of second-degree theft, 23 counts of third-degree burglary and one count of third-degree attempted burglary.

Gittens was arrested on Sept. 5, 2012.

Gittens has convictions for theft and burglary in California, Florida and New York. He escaped from Sing Sing State Correctional Facility in Ossining, New York, in December 1986 by scaling the 20-foot prison wall after dinner with two other inmates, Bernardi said.

He didn’t heed a warning shot fired from a guard tower, but was captured three hours later walking along railroad tracks less than a quarter mile from the prison, according to Bernardi.

Police say he learned the pattern of local police departments in Burlington and Camden counties, and spent a great deal of time planning and executing each crime, learning the habits of homeowners and making sure they would be away during the burglaries.

The spree began on Halloween night in 2011, when he broke into a home on Golf View Road in Moorestown.

Over the course of nearly a year, Gittens went on to burglarize 21 homes for a total of more than $2 million in Evesham, Medford Township, Moorestown and Mount Laurel in Burlington County and Haddonfield and Voorhees in Camden County.

Most of the homes were in upscale neighborhoods, near a golf course or on a wooded lot with minimal views, and were secluded from neighboring properties, Bernardi said.

He would cut phone and alarm wires, and broke into homes by smashing a rear sliding door, in most cases.
He used a police radio to monitor emergency communications, according to Bernardi.

He would steal jewelry, watches, furs, coins, crystal, silverware, handbags, firearms, camera equipment and other electronics, Bernardi said.

Many of the stolen items were pawned, but more than 500 stolen items were recovered.

Some of them were buried in Gittens’s yard and others were hidden in an abandoned building in Philadelphia.
Gittens’s ultimate downfall came in the same town where the spree began.

Once the similarities in the burglaries were discovered, a task force was formed consisting of law enforcement agencies from the affected towns, as well as the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office.

DNA left on a flashlight left behind during a burglary in Moorestown linked Gittens to the burglaries, Bernardi said. From there the investigation shifted to the analysis of more than 9,000 phone calls and text messages, as well as surveillance.

The attached image of Darius Gittens was provided by the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office