Defendant: German Martinez (DOB 05/25/78)

Nov. 19, 2020 -- Westchester County District Attorney Anthony A. Scarpino, Jr. announced German Martinez pleaded guilty to multiple private home burglaries throughout Westchester. The spree started the day after Christmas 2019 and continued into the first week of the New Year.

Specifically, Martinez appeared before State Supreme Court Justice Barry E. Warhit and pleaded guilty to nine counts:

  • Two counts of Burglary in the First Degree, a class B felony
  • One count of Robbery in the First Degree, a class B felony
  • Six counts of Burglary in the Second Degree, a class C felony

He is scheduled for sentencing Jan. 28, 2021. At sentence, in addition to 10 years in prison, he will receive a judgment and order for restitution for the items he stole from victims’ homes.

Background
German Martinez broke into a number of Westchester residences in a burglary spree from Dec. 26, 2019, through Jan. 4, 2020, where he stole property, and/or threatened or injured victims at the scene. Stolen property included cash, jewelry, laptop computers and other items. In some cases, he broke a window to gain entry or forced his way in using a crowbar. During one burglary, Martinez threatened a victim with a knife and, in another, he injured a victim at the scene.

Martinez hired taxis with unwitting drivers to take him to the locations and told them to await his return. Tracking license plate readers (LPRs) in the vicinity of the burglaries, police interviewed one of the cab drivers who was able to give police the defendant’s phone number. From there the case came together. He was subsequently arrested in Yonkers on Jan. 7, 2020.

The investigation into this series of burglaries was a collaboration of local police departments including Tarrytown, Dobbs Ferry, Yonkers, Sleepy Hollow, White Plains, Rye, Westchester County Police, the District Attorney’s Criminal Investigators and the Investigations Division Pattern Burglary Unit. The case is being prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Steven Vandervelden and Senior Assistant District Attorney Stefanie DeNise of the Investigations Division.

In compliance with the Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 3.6, you are advised that a charge is merely an accusation and that a defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

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