Luis Gonzalez, also known as the “Vaseline Bandit,” has been indicted by a grand jury on a litany of burglary charges for allegedly looting several homes in the Bronx, many of them in Norwood and Bedford Park.

Police say they were able to identify Gonzalez, of 231 Echo Place, through DNA left on a Gatorade and Malta bottle he left behind at separate burglaries. He was indicted on 35 felony and misdemeanor counts for offenses that occurred between May 2011 and February 2012.
Gonzalez, who struggled with a devastating $300 dollar-a-day heroin addiction, broke the locks to gain entry into six apartments and unsuccessfully attempted to break into a seventh, according to court documents. Cops dubbed him the “Vaseline Bandit,” because they believe he used the substance to block up peep holes, according to the New York Daily News.

In each successful break-in the defendant allegedly ransacked the bedrooms before fleeing with cash, jewelry, and electronic equipment worth tens of thousands of dollars. Investigations are continuing into the suspect’s involvement in additional burglaries in the Bronx and Manhattan.

Gonzalez has more or less admitted to his involvement in the burglary spree by identifying himself in photos to police, according to the criminal complaint.

The most serious charge, burglary in the 2nd degree, of which Gonzalez racked up six counts, is a Class C felony, punishable by a maximum sentence of up to 15 years imprisonment. He is currently on parole until 2014, for a 2000 break-in in Harlem.

The crime spree began in the Melrose section of the Bronx, on May 24, 2011 at an apartment building on Walton Avenue, followed by subsequent burglaries in Norwood between August and September. Two more apartments in the Mount Eden area were also burglarized in January.

Gonzalez is being held in lieu of bail in the amount of $500,000 cash, or $1 million dollar bond. His arraignment is scheduled for June 4, 2012.

Editor’s note: A version of this story appears in the May 3-16 print edition of the Norwood News.