Cops: Man arrested in back-to-back Holbrook home invasions

A 25-year-old man was arrested after he tried to burglarize two Holbrook homes only minutes apart but was thwarted by different teenage boys inside each residence, Suffolk police said .

Joseph Schreck, of 158 Arnold Ave., Holbrook, was charged with two counts of second-degree burglary in the home invasions Wednesday afternoon, police said.

Schreck was also charged with one count of second-degree attempted burglary after investigators learned he tried to break into a house near the scene of the second burglary, on Estelle Avenue, police said.

Later, police additionally charged Schreck with petty larceny in a February theft at a CVS store in Holbrook.

Neither boy who confronted Schreck during the attempted burglaries was injured, police said.

Police did not release the identities of either boy because of their ages and because both are victims of a crime.

The first break-in occurred on Hiram Avenue and was reported in a 911 call after police said the 13-year-old spotted a burglar in the home carrying items from an upstairs bedroom.

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Schreck, a laborer for a Smithtown remodeling business, tried to steal a safe in the first house, a spokesman for Suffolk District Attorney Thomas Spota said.

Police said that when the man, identified as Schreck, saw the boy, he fled the scene in a white Ford pickup truck.

A neighbor made the 911 call, police said, and Fifth Precinct officers investigated.

Just six minutes later police said they got another 911 call, reporting a burglary at a home on Estelle Avenue.

There, police said, a 14-year-old boy had confronted a burglar, now identified as Schreck, after hearing the house alarm go off. Police said the teen yelled at Schreck, who again fled.

Officers located Schreck and his truck minutes later, making the arrest and charging him.

Schreck was arraigned Thursday in First District Court in Central Islip. Bail was set at $75,000 cash or $150,000 bond. With Ellen Yan