A recidivist burglar was caught rifling through Robert De Niro’s Manhattan townhouse early Monday — fiddling with the actor’s iPad and grabbing Christmas gifts around the tree, law enforcement sources told The Post.
The 30-year-old woman, identified as Shanice Aviles, crept down a stairwell leading to 79-year-old De Niro’s townhouse on the Upper East Side around 2:30 a.m., the sources said.
Eagle-eyed officers with the NYPD’s 19th Precinct Public Safety team had spotted Aviles — a “known burglar” with more than 25 arrests on her rap sheet — trying to open doors to commercial buildings before she entered the townhouse, according to sources.
The cops trailed her into De Niro’s building 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.
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 home, the sources said, and charges were pending.
Aviles has at least 26 prior arrests, mostly for burglaries, according to the sources.
The sticky-fingered thief began her crimes during the pandemic.
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.
She 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.
“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 did not immediately return calls for comment.