The Medford man pleaded guilty on Tuesday to 21 counts of burglary after orchestrating the thefts in six towns during a 10-month period in 2012.
MOUNT HOLLY -- A 56-year-old Medford man admitted to committing a spree of burglaries from high-end homes in Burlington and Camden counties that netted more than $2 million over 10 months in 2012.
Darius Gittens (Photo provided) The Burlington County Prosecutor's Office announced Tuesday that Darius Gittens, of Skeet Road, pleaded guilty to 21 counts of burglary and three counts of theft in connection with the burglaries from homes in Evesham, Medford, Moorestown, Mount Laurel and Voorhees township as well as Haddonfield borough.
Gittens was convicted of unrelated charges of one count of theft and three counts of burglary after a trial last month. He will be sentenced on March 3 for both the charges he was found guilty on at trial and the charges he pleaded guilty to on Tuesday.
Authorities said Gittens and a co-defendent Geoffrey V. Petit, 51 of Medford, targeted upscale neighborhoods that were wooded, secluded and often near a golf course and stole high-end items such as jewelry, watches, furs, coins, crystal, silverware, purses, guns and electronic equipment.
In each of the burglaries, the pair would wait until no one was home and cut phone and alarm wires before smashing open a rear sliding door. They'd keep a watch on local law enforcement by using police radios.
A task force was launched between the townships and two counties' law enforcement agencies to track down Gittens once police realized connections between the burglaries, and a flashlight Gittens left behind gave them the DNA evidence they needed to focus in on the suspects.
The DNA evidence led authorities to analyze more than 9,000 calls and texts as they surveilled the two.
While most of the items were pawned, authorities were still able to recover more than 500 stolen items that were either buried in Gitten's yard or hidden in an abandoned building in Philadelphia.
Both were arrested in September of 2012 following the 10-month spree and indicted on 96 counts. Petit pleaded guilty on May 20 to two counts of burglary and was sentenced 364 days in the Burlington County Jail and five years probation.
Michelle Caffrey may be reached at mcaffrey@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @ShellyCaffrey. Find the South Jersey Times on Facebook.
