On October 24, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced that four New York City men had been arrested and charged in connection with a string of burglaries and attempted burglaries in the U.S. and Europe between 2006 and 2017.
The defendants are Damir Pejcinovic, aka “Damian”, aka “Coco”, 44, of Manhattan, Gzimi Bojkovic, aka “Jimmy”, 36, of Staten Island, Adrian Fiseku, 35, of Staten Island, and Elvis Cirikovic, aka “Gorilla”, 35 of Queens.
According to federal prosecutors, the men were part of an international burglary crew that mainly targeted jewelry stores and banks.
The crew used power tools, sledgehammers, and jackhammers to break into buildings, stores, and safes.
They disabled security systems by cutting telephone lines, using cellphone jammers, and cutting off power to buildings.
The crew had individuals with various skill sets including the ability to climb up buildings, strength to break through walls, and expertise in security and phone systems.
Prosecutors believe that Pejcinovic was the leader of the crew. He selected the targets, planned how the jobs would be carried out, and decided which members would be assigned to a particular job.
Pejcinovic used his laptop to research alarm systems, police scanner frequencies, safes, locks, industrial drills, and power tools.
He supposedly used his cellphone to give instructions without stepping into the locations.
Bojkovic is Pejcinovic’s brother-in-law and allegedly was his right-hand man.
The burglaries and attempted burglaries
The government has identified 16 burglaries and attempted burglaries.
The earliest incident is a burglary of a restaurant and an attempted burglary of a jewelry store in Portland, Oregon around February 2006.
On Labor Day 2010, Pejcinovic allegedly participated in a burglary of a jewelry store in Kansas City, Missouri, and made off with jewelry valued at more than $1 million.
According to this account of the burglary from the Kansas City Star, two or three men broke into a locked service alley next to the jewelry store in the early morning. They tore a hole in a concrete wall and broke through the rear of a store safe.
In February 2011, Pejcinovic, Cirikovic, and Fiseku allegedly participated in the burglary of a jewelry store in Los Angeles, California, which resulted in the theft of jewelry valued at more than $3 million.
According to this account of the burglary from the Los Angeles Times, two masked thieves tunneled into the jewelry store sometime between 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. and stole jewelry from display cases.
In June 2012, Pejcinovic and Cirikovic allegedly participated in an attempted burglary of a bank in Scarsdale, New York.
In the fall of 2012, Pejcinovic and Bojkovic allegedly participated in an attempted burglary of a bank in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
On New Years Eve 2016, Pejcinovic, Bojkovic, and Fiseku allegedly participated in the burglary of a jewelry store in Manhattan which resulted in the theft of jewelry valued at more than $3 million.
Two days later, the New York City Police Department released this surveillance video of a burglary of a jewelry wholesaler at 70 West 36 Street in Manhattan.
Damir Pejcinovic jailed pending trial
All four defendants pleaded not guilty during their initial appearances in court.
Magistrate Judge Katharine Parker approved similar bail packages for Bojkovic and Fiseku. The conditions include a $500,000 personal recognizance bond secured by property, pretrial supervision, travel restrictions, home detention with electronic monitoring, and no contact with co-defendants or victims.
Pejcinovic also applied for bail, while the government sought detention. Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Chan offered a litany of reasons to deny bail including a prior conviction for burglary, a prior conviction for bail jumping, DNA evidence that ties him to the burglaries, his role as the leader, and authorities found blueprints to a jewelry store when they searched his residence.
Judge Parker ordered Pejcinovic to be detained pending trial. He is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center, Brooklyn.
The criminal charges
Pejcinovic, Bojkovic, Fiseku, and Cirikovic have each been charged with one count of racketeering conspiracy, and one count of conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property and bank burglary. These charges carry maximum prison sentences of 20 years and 5 years, respectively.
Pejcinovic, Bojkovic, and Fiseku have also been charged with one count of interstate transportation of stolen property. This charge carries a maximum prison sentence of 10 years.
The government is also seeking forfeiture of all proceeds traceable to the offenses.
It is attempting to seize a building owned by Pejcinovic located on West 4th Street in Manhattan.