Two Brooklyn men behind bars: Astonishing $150K theft spree revealed

Two men from Brooklyn have been indicted for a string of burglaries, leading to more than $150,000 worth of cash and valuable possessions stolen from homes and businesses in Bensonhurst.

District Attorney Eric Gonzalez and New York City Police Commissioner Edward Caban announced the arraignment of the defendants — Sam Kravchenko, 36, from Coney Island, and John Catullo, 55, from Bensonhurst — before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Donald Leo.

“These defendants are allegedly professional burglars whose crime spree violated the sanctity of local homeowners and businesses in the Bensonhurst community, and we will now seek to hold them accountable,” said Gonzalez, who attended John Dewey High School not far from the burglaries.

“Together with the NYPD, we have been focusing enforcement efforts on alleged repeat offenders, leading to a double-digit percentage decline in Brooklyn burglaries so far this year,” Gonzalez continued.

According to the indictment, the accused duo were involved in a total of six burglaries between August 2022 and January 2023. Two of the burglaries took place in private homes, while the other four targeted local businesses.

The first incident occurred on Aug. 8, 2022, where the defendants allegedly infiltrated a private home on West 12th Street in Gravesend. The home, usually filled with joy and laughter, was silently violated and left devoid of its treasured possessions: two Rolex watches, a Cartier gold watch, a gold necklace featuring a diamond cross, a gold bracelet, a diamond bracelet, and diamond earrings.

Just a month later, on September 6, the defendants purportedly turned their attention to a grocery store on 17th Avenue in Bensonhurst. The normally bustling shop was stripped of a safe containing approximately $15,000 cash and a cash register with petty cash.

They then allegedly targeted another grocery store on Bath Avenue in Bath Beach on…