Accused burglar with 16 arrests in 2022 wants to apologize to Robert De Niro, felt like she was ‘set up’

The woman accused of breaking into actor Robert De Niro’s home before Christmas had some thoughts on her current stint behind bars, including supposed remorse, leading some to conclude “She just might be a raging bullsh-tter.”

Such was the takeaway following an exclusive interview conducted by the New York Post with 30-year-old Shanice Aviles currently being held at New York City’s Rikers Island. As previously reported, the woman was nabbed by police after they witnessed her enter De Niro’s nearly $70,000 per month Upper East Side townhome where she was said to be found rifling through gifts under a Christmas tree.

“I would love to apologize to him,” Aviles told the Post as she expressed. “I love his movies, all of them! My mother, my grandmother, my grandfather, we all used to watch them.”

Her claims to the outlet were reportedly made with “tears streaming down her face” and, if genuine, stood as a testament to the failure of cashless bail so heavily promoted by progressives.

Aviles had 26 total arrests on her rap sheet when she was taken into custody at De Niro’s, 16 of which were in 2022 and nine of those happening just since Nov. 21. Following her previous arrest, bail of $5,000 was waived as the judge sought to have her enter a drug treatment program, which she did not.

At Aviles’s initial hearing, Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Dylan Los Huertos argued, “She has repeatedly failed to take advantage of the rehabilitative services that enable her to detox and stay out of trouble [for] court dates.”

“The defendant demonstrated that she will not engage with services. She will not return to court and she will re-offend if she is released,” he stated further and added, “There is no least restrictive means other than monetary bail. We have tried everything else, therefore significant cash bail is appropriate here.”

Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Melissa Lewis agreed with Los Huertos on that point and set Aviles’ bail at $40,000 to which the defendant lamented, “I couldn’t afford [that].”

The alleged burglar took umbrage with her charges as well, telling the Post, “I’m being held here on burglary — burglary!”

“I didn’t take any of his stuff. I didn’t have any of his stuff on me,” she contended despite police reports stating that she had been arrested while wearing a pair of headphones found within the expensive rental property and handling De Niro’s iPad.

Law enforcement also said that the arresting officers had observed Aviles trying the locks of various commercial properties before she ultimately used a tool to break into the actor’s home. Despite her record, demonstrated intent and free will, she still claimed, “I felt like it was a setup.”

As for the actor to whom the suspect said she never meant any trouble, she spoke to his character and suggested, “People have said he’s mean, that he’s not a nice guy, but I think he’s a good guy. He could’ve made some calls and made my bail a lot more.”

The same wasn’t expressed of Lewis for setting bail at $40,000 as Aviles, facing up to 15 years in prison if found guilty, said the judge had been considering the victim’s celebrity reputation rather than her own lengthy record as a repeat offender, “I think the judge is a fan.”

New York City is set to end 2022 with overall crime up nearly 23 percent and burglary edging that rate by a third of a percent when compared to 2021, according to the NYPD.

Kevin Haggerty

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.

Latest Articles