Jailed Repeat Offender Charged in String of Burglaries

A career criminal already behind bars has now been charged with six more felony counts after an investigation by Southampton Town detectives into a string of burglaries between March and May.

Richard Ambrose, 40, of Shirley was taken to Southampton Town Justice Court from the county jail in Riverside on Jan. 12 and arraigned on the new charges.

Southampton Village police had arrested him on Sept. 16 on a burglary charge, and a grand jury indicted him four days later. On Sept. 26, he was arraigned in county court, with New York State Justice John B. Collins setting bail at $300,000 based on Mr. Ambrose's recidivist nature, according to court records. He had been held in the county jail ever since. Details of that burglary, said to have occurred on April 20 of last year, were not immediately available.

Since 2004, Mr. Ambrose has spent most of his time behind bars. That year he was convicted on a number of charges, including burglary and possession of stolen property, and served three and a half years in state prison. One year after his release, he was convicted of burglary and was returned to prison. After serving two more years, he was released but was soon arrested again on another burglary charge. After serving more time, he was released, only to be arrested and convicted yet again in 2014.

Almost immediately after being released from prison early last year, he apparently returned to his criminal ways. According to Lt. Susan Ralph of the Southampton Town police, he would break into businesses that were closed for the night and rummage through drawers, searching for cash and cigarettes. The six stores he targeted in the town's jurisdiction were in Noyac (the Whalebone General Store), Southampton (the Blue Collar Bar), and Water Mill, and included a gas station.

"It's sad. They just keep going back to the same old thing, instead of improving their lives," Lieutenant Ralph said of repeat offenders.