E. Bronx serial burglary suspect on the lam

A hulking career criminal released twice without bail after being arrested for an east Bronx burglary spree has gone on the lam.

Police said Nestor “Frankie” Marrero failed to show up in court for a scheduled hearing on Aug. 12, with a new arrest warrant awaiting him for yet another burglary.

He may have fled to the Dominican Republican, cops said, where extradition laws are lax.

A neighborhood fixture around Morris Park and Throggs Neck, Marrero was arrested three times in June and August, charged with burglarizing local homes – twice with elderly or handicapped victims inside.

But at his two arraignments, judges released him without bail, despite Marrero being a predicate felon and prosecutors asking for high bail.

An earlier story on Marrero’s arrest incorrectly listed Acting Supreme Court Justice Efrain Alvarado as one of the judges.

Police said Marrero, 39, a hulking 6-foot-5, 350 pound former area window company employe used the repairman ruse to gain entry to the homes of elderly victims to rip them off while they weren’t looking.

Detective Bobby Rogers of the 45th Precinct detective unit said Marrero had been fired from a local window company and either remembered some of his jobs or took work slips with him “so he had an excuse to enter the homes, supposedly to check on the windows.”

After a story in the Bronx Times Reporter, yet another victim, who recognized Marrero’s mug shot in the paper, came forward.

Detective Rogers rushed the victim straight into the grand jury after interviewing him at his home, police said, with the jury issuing a felony indictment on the new burglary charge.

Rogers then went to court on Aug. 12 with the new arrest warrant. But when Marrero failed to show up, the judge issued a bench warrant for his arrest for failing to appear.

Rogers told The Times Reporter that the Bronx Warrants Team “is actively hunting for him” with Marrero’s next scheduled appearance Sept. 9.

“But I really don’t think he is going to show for that either,” said Rogers. “His landlord said that Nestor moved to the Dominican Republic with his wife, and he still owes him over $5,000 in unpaid rent.”

Anyone with information on Marrero’s whereabouts is asked to call 45th Precinct detectives at 718-822-5414.

Marrero was first arrested in June for burglary after a witness recognized him – and he was caught on a security camera entering and leaving the Van Nest home. But he was released at his arraignment.

He was arrested again on Monday, July 8 for two home invasions against an elderly man and a blind man in Silver Beach and on City Island. But at his arraignment the next day, the judge released Marrero without bail, despite his already being a predicate felon with previous convictions for robbery, burglary and drug sales. The Bronx District Attorney’s office had asked for $75,000 bail.