Serial burglar breaks into Robert De Niro’s NYC townhouse
Fox News’ Alexis McAdams reports on a serial burglar now held on bail after breaking into actor Robert De Niro’s New York City townhouse.
Benedict Cumberbatch is just the latest celebrity victim of terrifying home invasions – while the stars were inside the house.
Sandra Bullock previously shared she "wasn't the same" after a man broke into her home, while she was alone, in 2014.
A 30-year-old woman allegedly broke into Robert De Niro's rental home in the Upper East Side right before Christmas last year, trying to steal presents from under his tree.
Here's a look at other stars, including Kim Kardashian and "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" star Dorit Kemsley, who have faced frightening situations.
Benedict Cumberbatch, Kim Kardashian and Robert De Niro are celebrity victims of home invasions. (Getty Images)
Benedict Cumberbatch
Cumberbatch was reportedly a victim of a home invasion at his London house.
The "Doctor Strange" star, his wife and their three children were home when a former chef at a Mayfair hotel damaged his home while brandishing a fishing knife, the Guardian reported.
According to court documents obtained by the outlet, Jack Bissell kicked in the front, iron gates of the home while shouting, "I know you’ve moved here, I hope it burns down."
Benedict Cumberbatch was the victim of a recent home invasion. (Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
Bissell reportedly pulled a plant out of Cumberbatch's garden and threw it at a wall. He proceeded to spit on the home's intercom machine before attacking it with a fishing knife, the outlet reported.
The former chef pleaded guilty at the end of May on charges of criminal damage. A court ruled that Bissell would have to pay a 250 pound ($311 U.S. dollars) fine. There is also a three-year restraining order against Bissell, preventing him from going near the Cumberbatch family and the area of their home, per the Guardian.
The Marvel actor and his wife, Sophie Hunter, wed in 2015 and live in North London.
Sandra Bullock
Bullock was "never the same" after her home was invaded in 2014.
In 2021, the actress was a guest on Jada Pinkett Smith's "Red Table Talk" where she shared details regarding the terrifying incident, including that she was home alone at the time.
Sandra Bullock's home was broken into in 2014. (Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images for Netflix)
"I’m in the closet going, ‘This doesn’t end well,'" Bullock recalled of the moment a man had entered her Bel Air residence.
The "Blind Side" star noted that being a fan of shows like "Dateline" and "48 Hours" did not help her fear during the time of the invasion.
Bullock shared on the Facebook show that she locked herself in a closet in her bedroom. "It was the one night that Louis wasn’t with me," she said, referencing her son she adopted in 2010. "It was the one night that our nanny goes, ‘Let me just take him to my apartment, which is up the street, because you’re going to be out late.'"
She continued, "Had he been home, I would’ve run to the closet, which is now my official closet but that was his bedroom, and it would have changed our destiny forever. The violation of that. I wasn’t the same after that. I was unraveling."
Bullock says she suffers from PTSD because of the incident.
"I would look left out of a car. Not right. I would look left, and I would start sobbing," she said. "And I thought to myself, I’m a single parent and this child is going to absorb nothing but fear and trauma and shame from me in the most pivotal times of his life, and I was like, ‘I don’t want to drop that load of baggage onto my beautiful child.’"
Bullock was home alone at the time of the invasion. (Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images)
The man who invaded Bullock's home, Joshua James Corbett, was arrested by Los Angeles Police at the time. The police department uncovered that Corbett – then 39 – had eight firearms registered in his name at the time of the invasion.
Corbett pleaded no contest to stalking and first-degree residential burglary in 2017. He was given five years' probation and a 10-year protective order was issued against him.
Corbett killed himself during a police standoff in 2018. Bullock told Pinkett Smith that the system "failed him."
"What’s sad is that the system failed him," Bullock said. "There was an altercation with SWAT and he killed himself."
Robert De Niro
De Niro was a victim of a serial burglar just before the holiday season in 2022.
Shanice Aviles allegedly broke into De Niro's Upper East Side rental.
Robert De Niro's Upper East Side rental was broken into at the end of last year. (Patricia De Melo Moreira/AFP)
Aviles was nabbed around 2:45 a.m. on Dec. 19, and was charged with second-degree burglary, police said.
Officers with the New York Police Department's 19th Precinct Public Safety Team spotted her meandering around the Upper East Side, carrying a black bag and looking inside "several closed businesses in the vicinity of Lexington Avenue," a criminal complaint stated. An officer allegedly saw her try to open the doors to several of the businesses.
She then made her way to a townhouse on East 65th Street near Park Avenue, where the firebrand actor was renting a temporary residence, police and a rep for De Niro said at the time.
The intruder attempted to steal presents under Robert De Niro's Christmas tree. (Dia Dipasupil)
Officers ultimately located Aviles in a "living area" of the home, where the source said she was going through presents that were under a Christmas tree.
A law enforcement source told Fox News Digital that De Niro was asleep in a different area of the home while Aviles was inside. The 79-year-old "Raging Bull" star awoke and discovered the woman inside, the source said.
She was allegedly found to have been in possession of a pair of stolen headphones at the time.
Aviles smiled for the camera as police led her out of the New York Police Department's 19th Precinct stationhouse en route for Manhattan court in December.
Kim Kardashian
Armed robbers forced their way into Kardashian's rental property in Paris during fashion week in 2016.
In the past, the Skims founder has been outspoken about how she changed her social media habits after the incident. Kim was tied up at gunpoint and the criminals took off with $10 million in jewelry.
Kim Kardashian was held at gunpoint in her Paris apartment in 2016. (Taylor Hill/FilmMagic)
During an episode of "Keeping Up with the Kardashians," the star recalled seeing the gun "as clear as day." The episode, which aired after the October 2016 incident, showed Kim becoming emotional as she recounted the scary situation to her sisters.
She recalled thinking there was "no way out" of the situation.
Kim was not harmed in the incident and 12 suspects were charged in connection with the case.
Dorit Kemsley
"Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" star Dorit Kemsley was a victim of home invasion in October 2021 when her husband, PK, was out of town.
Kemsley had been sleeping at the time of the home invasion and had originally believed her children were coming to get into bed with her. She recalled the event in the season premiere of the reality television show in May 2022.
Dorit Kemsley was home with her kids in December 2021 when her home was broken into. (Getty Images)
"All the sudden, I hear the door open. And I thought [it was] my kids. And then, I don't see them," Kemsley recalled. "So I get out of my bed and that's when I saw not a little person but a big person. When he saw me, he panicked. And he charged at me, grabbed me, put me down [and said], 'Get down on the f---ing ground. I'm going to f---ing kill you.'"
The reality TV star claimed she was "begging" for her kids to be left alone.
"I was begging and begging and the other guy's going, 'Just f---ing kill her! Just f---ing kill her!'" she added.
There were three male suspects and an unknown amount of property was stolen. Dorit was reportedly held at gunpoint during the incident. Kemsley had just returned to her Encino Hills home after attending a wedding in London when the home robbery occurred.
Dorit Kemsley recalled "begging" that her kids be left alone. (Getty Images)
Kemsley truly thought she was going to die during the burglary.
"I thought, 'This is it. I'm going to die. He's going to pull the trigger.' And then I envisioned them killing me and then going and killing my kids," she recalled during the "RHOBH" premiere. "I have to figure out a way to move on."
Kemsley admitted she doesn't care about the "material stuff" during a confessional for the show.
"I will always thank God for protecting me and the kids. I don't care about the material stuff," she said in a confessional. "I don't care. I never will."
In 2019, it was reported that one of the suspects was arrested. "Crazy and true. So glad this guy is finally off the streets. I can sleep better now," Dorit tweeted at the time.
Simon Cowell
Simon Cowell was home when a man broke in to his home in West London in 2015.
According to the Daily Mail, a man named Darren February allegedly tried to scale Cowell's wall to enter the home, which had an open safe with nearly one million pounds (about $1.245 million U.S. dollars) of jewelry inside.
Cowell's partner, Lauren Silverman, and their then toddler son, Eric, were also in the home at the time of the attempted burglary.
Simon Cowell's London home was broken into in 2015. (Unique Nicole/Getty Images)
According to the outlet, a security guard was patrolling the premises in the middle of the night and spotted February making his attempt to flee the scene.
Prosecutor Denis Barry portrayed evidence to a London court that February was involved in the incident.
"He (Mr Cowell) gives evidence that the items stolen were worth £950,000. He was at home on the 4th of December 2015 together with his partner and child, the nanny and the security officer downstairs," Barry said, per the outlet.
The intruder allegedly attempted to steal nearly a million pounds worth of jewelry from Simon Cowell's safe. (Sami Drasin/NBC via Getty Images)
February wore gloves during the burglary, which he discarded while fleeing Cowell's home, according to the outlet.
"It would appear from the CCTV that the burglar is catching his breath because he had to shimmy over lots of different walls to get in to the premises and around the premises," Barry said.
He added, "Mr. February over a few years has committed a total of 37 burglaries and what is more relevant, he has committed a total of 37 burglaries, most of which are in this area. These areas are some of the more wealthy areas in London."
In a victim impact statement, shared with the court in 2017, Cowell said: "The whole incident has been very traumatic and there is a constant fear that it may be repeated and that it may be worse next time."
Per the Guardian, February had been jailed the year before for an unrelated incident. He was sentenced to 8 ½ years for causing death by dangerous driving after crashing into a motorcyclist.
Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne
In 2004, Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne's Buckinghamshire home was broken into, with a "large amount of jewelry" stolen, CBS reported at the time.
According to the outlet, "a man" tried to grab one of the intruders before he jumped out of a window from the second story of the house. Police did not clarify to the outlet if "the man" trying to stop the intruder was Ozzy.
Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne were reportedly victims of home invasion in 2004. (Gregg DeGuire/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)
"Ozzy and Sharon were in the house. They were woken up by the incident eventually. My understanding is that the intruder was discovered in... Sharon's dressing room," adjoining the main bedroom," Jay Marose, the family's spokesperson, shared with the outlet at the time.
Marose clarified that he didn't know the amount of jewelry that was stolen, but said it had "financial and sentimental value."
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The Osbourne children were reportedly not home at the time of the invasion.
Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello
Camila Cabello and Shawn Mendes were reportedly at their Los Angeles home in March 2021 when an intruder broke through their window.
According to TMZ, the intruders "made a pretty quick exit" once they realized the couple was sitting inside.
Camila Cabello and Shawn Mendes' Los Angeles home was broken into while they were inside in 2021. (John Shearer)
The intruders were able to get the keys to Mendes' Mercedes-Benz SUV before fleeing the scene. In April, the outlet reported that his car was found and returned to him, and that the suspect was arrested.
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The couple began dating in 2019 before announcing their split in April 2022. They have been seen together since.
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