A “one man scourge” with a lengthy rap sheet was busted this week in connection to nearly 20 heists across Manhattan — all allegedly committed in the few months since he was released from prison on parole, sources said.
Tony Scott, 38, got out of state lockup in September after serving around six years for several burglary convictions — but apparently couldn’t give up his old, bad ways, authorities said.
Scott allegedly launched into his new robbery spree just over a month later — going on to steal electronics and other loot from 19 businesses all on the southern end of the borough, according to police and law-enforcement sources.
“He was a one man scourge – he was hitting every neighborhood in lower Manhattan – the Village, Financial District, Chinatown, Gramercy Park, Midtown,” a Manhattan cop told The Post. “Every precinct was looking for him.”
He is also a suspect in several other burglaries, sources said.
It came despite a warrant for Scott’s arrest being issued Nov. 8 by the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, a spokesman said.
The warrant was issued after it was determined that Scott had absconded from “community supervision” — an offense which usually entails failure to stay in touch with a parole officer or notify them of a change of address, the rep said.
Scott was granted parole and released on Sept. 30 from state prison, where he had been held since August of 2018 in connection to seven burglaries, according to the sources and public records.
He also served time for five burglaries in 2012, sources said.
Scott, who has at least 32 busts on his record, mostly for burglary, was finally picked up Tuesday by the Midtown South public safety unit.
Cops charged him with the 19 burglaries, the most recent of which came Sunday at around 9:40 p.m., when the serial thief allegedly crept in through the side door of Mid-City Tailors and Denim Surgeon on West 36th Street and ripped off items worth $2,500, according to police.
Kattya Torres, 49, who co-owns the business with her daughter Atheena Pimentel, 33, told The Post a manager called her the following morning, saying “something’s going on” because the computer and phone were both missing, and the cash register was empty.
Sure enough, Torres dug up surveillance footage that showed the burglar ambling through the store and occasionally sifting around some clothing.
The video ended up helping cops track down the serial burglar, she said.
“I sent them what I had, and the detective, very promptly, got back to me, like the next day in the morning, and said, ‘Thank you for everything you submitted. I think we know who this is,’ based on our video,” Torres told The Post in an interview Friday.
“The fact that he was apprehended is amazing and the fact that we contributed to him being arrested is even more satisfying,” Torres added. “And I just hope that they do the right thing, that justice is served, and they put him away, for good now.”
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office is moving forward with prosecuting four of the cases – so far not including the heist at the tailor business – and said the “investigation is ongoing” regarding 13 of the other alleged crimes. The status of the remaining two cases is unclear.
An assistant district attorney said the four burglaries were captured on surveillance footage.
They include a Nov. 13 heist at Rich Begany Photography on West 26th Street, where Scott allegedly sneaked inside behind another person who was leaving — and swooped up a whopping $62,000 in equipment, according to a criminal complaint.
Scott allegedly also stole $25,000 in tech gear – including laptops, cell phones, headphones and tablets – from inside the Meal Pal restaurant on West 35th Street the evening of Nov. 15, according to prosecutors.
The relentless suspect went on to snatch up laptops, shoes, cash and bags – totaling approximately $20,000 – from inside the Cosmo Street Editorio video editing business on West 25th Street between Dec. 17 and 18, the complaint charged.
And between Jan. 6 and 7, Scott allegedly made off with laptops, cell phones, blankets and other loot worth $16,000 from inside the John Varvatos men’s clothing store on Spring Street, according to the court document.
During Scott’s Wednesday arraignment, Assistant District Attorney Natalie Mishkin called for him to be held on $150,000 cash bail or $300,000 bond in order to ensure that the career criminal return to court.
Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Robert Rosenthal ordered him held on $30,000 cash bail or $100,000 bond.
Scott is set to appear again in court on Monday, and could spend up to 15 years behind bars, if convicted.
State Corrections officials lodged and enforced another warrant for Scott following his arrest, a department spokesman said.
Scott is undergoing the “parole revocation process and is awaiting his preliminary and final hearings,” according to the spokesman.
