Robbing Thugs Try to Ruin Queens Family's Christmas

A Queens couple received an unexpected visit on Christmas Eve after putting their four young children to bed. But instead of a joyous drop-in from Santa Claus, the two men at their door were in what appeared to be NYPD uniforms. And yet instead of taking care of official police business, the pair broke into the couple's home, tied up and pistol-whipped Robert Kapovic and then robbed his home while whispering to his wife things like, "Do you ever want to see your kids?" The happy ending to all this is that police were able to track down Nicholas Papaleo and Constantino Christo after Kapovic broke free once they left the almost four hour robbery and led police to them with his OnStar while tailing the burglars. Cops were able to recover all of the couple's loot along with the two bullet-resistant vests bearing the NYPD logo, two BB guns resembling NYPD-issue pistols and two authentic-looking badges. The News headline calls the pair "home-invading Grinches" and thankfully Queens DA Richard Brown clarifies, "They acted like the Grinch in the Dr. Seuss classic, 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas.'"