A notorious serial shoplifter with nearly 100 prior arrests was apprehended in Times Square after reverting to his old habits on the very day he was released from jail, as confirmed by authorities and sources.
Christopher Dornfeld, aged 33, had been set free following his most recent arrest with the expectation that he would enroll in residential treatment. However, when he failed to show up, law enforcement caught him allegedly stealing merchandise worth $267 from an H&M store in Times Square on Wednesday night, according to police and prosecutors.
Dornfeld’s criminal record includes a recent burglary charge in 2022, alongside a staggering 90 arrests dating back to 2006, as per police sources.
Out of the 90 arrests, 35 have either been voided or sealed, according to insider sources.
Dornfeld’s latest run-in with the law occurred shortly after Michael Lipetri, the NYPD Chief of Crime Control Strategies, highlighted the surge in shoplifting crimes, with a reported 21,000 arrests related to shoplifting this year alone, marking a 2,000 increase from the previous year.
“As we always stress, shoplifting tends to be a crime driven by repeat offenders,” Lipetri emphasized.
“This year, approximately 575 individuals have accounted for over 6,000 shoplifting arrests…that’s 30% of all shoplifting-related arrests.”
Moreover, those same 575 individuals have amassed a total of 16,000 shoplifting arrests throughout their criminal careers, Lipetri revealed.
“When you tally up all their arrests over their lifetime, it amounts to 25,000 arrests.”
Following a guilty plea on the burglary charges from 2022, Dornfeld was slated to undergo up to 15 months of residential treatment on Wednesday.
However, upon his failure to comply with the program, a bench warrant was promptly issued, leading to his re-arrest.
Prosecutors indicated that Dornfeld’s guilty plea would have been set aside had he successfully completed the program without any further run-ins with the law. Nevertheless, he now faces a potential prison sentence of up to 7 years.
Dornfeld is currently in police custody, facing charges of petit larceny and criminal possession of stolen property.
He has yet to be arraigned on the fresh set of charges.
Can you please rewrite this sentence?
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