Judge gives Lewiston man 3 1/2 years in break-ins
LOCKPORT — Niagara County Judge Matthew J. Murphy III sentenced a Lewiston man to 3 1/2 years in prison Tuesday for burglarizing five houses over three days in December.
Anthony J. Mauro, 19, of Swann Road, pleaded guilty to attempted second-degree burglary, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and third-degree burglary. He also was ordered to pay restitution to the five homeowners, totaling $1,062.50.
Co-defendants Matthew T. Maines, 19, of Youngstown-Lockport Road, Ransomville, and Phillip Hill, 19, of Swann Road, previously were sentenced to six months in jail and five years’ probation for participating in some of the break-ins.
From Dec. 3 to 6, Mauro targeted houses on West Lake and Palmer roads in Wilson, Dickersonville Road in Porter and West Creek and Phillips roads in Newfane. At the latter home on the morning of Dec. 6, a gun was pointed at a woman who interrupted the burglary. That led to a police chase of the suspects’ car, which they abandoned on Charlottesville Road.
As the nearby Newfane Elementary School was locked down for an hour, officers searched a wooded area for the burglars and arrested them as they exited the woods.
