He spins the court system with its wheels.
Career offenders who tend to take work vans at Joyrides have hit dozens of times in December alone, but remain on the streets due to the state's loose bail reform laws.
According to criminal charges, 58-year-old Halbert Burke, whose busts are 60 since 1990 under his belt, told the current van theft on December 22 that he “taked it for Joyley.”
But he didn't stop there – he had been recently arrested without bail on February 18th.
“The DA is so tired at this point that after a lot of that belief, he will only accuse him of misdemeanors,” an annoyed law enforcement source told the Post.
Burke has been found 11 convictions on his record since 2017, and has since had 24 felony arrests, sources said.
Still, the system cannot hold him as state lawmakers passed criminal justice reform measures in 2019 and passed criminal justice reform measures for most criminal offences.
His recent allegations began on Dec. 22 when he reportedly walked to a parking lot on Drake Street in the Bronx before 4:30am, prosecutors said, and ran in a truck parked there.
The next day, just after 8am, Burke was arrested again on Second Avenue in East Harlem and East 126th Avenue, leaving with a van owned by Luciano Truckship.
The driver parked the van with the officer, but when he returned it was gone.
Police caught up with Burke, according to the complaint.
Authorities say Burke was arrested on January 18th with 10 vehicles, most of whom were arrested for work vans and trucks.
Released without bail, Crafty Criminal was arrested on Washington Avenue in the Bronx on February 4th, returned to handcuffs when he was arrested in a 2016 car, despite the driver saying he locked the car and photographed the keys.
According to the complaint, Burke was allegedly caught up in a surveillance vehicle that steals the car.
Burke, who was released again, was arrested on February 18 after saying he drove in a white two-door van around 12:30pm on South Boulevard in the Bronx on February 18th.
According to the complaint, witnesses saw Burke behind the wheel and he was arrested again. This time, it was a hit with misuse of a vehicle and possession of a weapon four times.
He currently has five open cases – two in Manhattan and three in the Bronx – remains free.
“This looks like 35 years of being a PARP,” another source said.
Burke's public attorney could not be reached for comment.
