Medford burglary suspect admits 24 jobs in 6 towns in 10 months

Sentencing is set for March in the case of a Medford man who Tuesday pleaded guilty to a string of burglaries that saw about $2,000,000 worth of valuables disappear from Burlington and Camden County homes in a 10-month span that ended in August 2012.

In Mount Holly, Darius Gittens, 56, pleaded guilty to three second-degree counts of theft and 21 third-degree charges of burglary, according to the office of Burlington County Prosecutor Robert D. Bernardi.

Gittens entered his plea in the aftermath of an unrelated three-week trial in December in which he was convicted of one theft charge and three burglary counts.

Judge Charles Delehy is scheduled to sentence Gittens for the convictions on March 3, simultaneously issuing a sentence for Tuesday's admissions in an open plea bargain, authorities said.

Gittens was arrested in September 2012, with Geoffrey V. Petit, 51, also of Medford. Petit pleaded guilty to two burglary counts in May 2015, in exchange for 364 days in the Burlington County Jail and five years' probation.

Victims owned upscale homes in Evesham, MedfordTownship, Moorestown, Mount Laurel, Haddonfield and Voorhees, mostly secluded homes near golf courses or wooded areas, and were usually not at home at the time.

They lost jewelry, watches, furs, coins, crystal, silveware, handbags, firearms, camera gear and electronics. More than 500 items were recovered, some in Gittens's yard and others in an abandoned building in Philadelphia, authorities said, and many were reportedly pawned.

Authorities said that phone and alarm wires were cut, and in many cases sliding rear doors were smashed to gain access to the interiors. Defendants allegedly monitored emergency calls with a police-band radio.

Investigators were stymied until Gittens' DNA was discovered on a flashlight discarded during a burglary in Moorestown, authorities said. The probe then deepened to a study of more than 9,000 phone calls and texts, and surveillance.