Manhattan woman wakes up to burglar licking her face; victim complained to her landlord about broken lock for months

A bearded pervert waltzed into an Upper East Side woman’s apartment and licked her face as she slept - the creepy crime made easier by a landlord who blew off repeated requests to repair the woman’s busted door lock, the Daily News has learned.

The 28-year-old victim awoke about 6:35 a.m. Sunday, horrified by the burglar’s licks and kisses, cops said. She forced him out of the apartment, police said.

Police described the door to the woman’s 5th-floor walk-up on E. 65th St. and First Ave. as “unsecured," and a reporter had no problem getting into the building through a front door that didn’t close properly.

"One of her neighbors said her lock was supposed to be replaced a while ago. They issued a court order months ago to get it fixed and it was supposed to be done within 24 hours,” said third-floor resident Elexis Ellis, 27.

Housing Preservation and Development records show 38 open violations against the building -14 of them for problems with the victim’s apartment.

The apartment’s occupant complained about the broken lock last April, and said her self-closing front door wasn’t working properly, those records show. Those complaints led to HPD violations.

The HPD received another 11 complaints about the apartment March 1, each of which led to a separate violation three days later. Those complaints include he broken lock, a mouse infestation and a variety of paint, floor, pipe and roof-leak problems.

The city has also fielded complaints about apartments on the third, fourth and fifth floors being used as Airbnb rentals.

Ellis told the News few long-term residents live in the building, and apartment keys often change hands without the locks being replaced.

'There’s a lot of single women in this neighborhood'

She learned about the intruder from police, and the victim talked about what happened after noticing that Ellis’ husband left his keys in her lock by mistake one day.

“That was really alarming. I don’t really know because this neighborhood - I’m not used to anything out of the ordinary," Ellis said. “There’s a lot of single women in this neighborhood especially.”

The victim told Ellis the bearded burglar seemed high or drunk.

“She handled it marvelously. I’m so impressed what women can handle. She seemed more disgusted. I think she was expressing that she was glad she was fully clothed,” Ellis said.

Public records show the building is owned by Melissa Properties 65 LLC, which is run by Robert Giaimo. It’s managed by Weber-Farhat Realty Management. Neither company returned messages seeking comment Wednesday night.

Police describe the burglar as a dark-skinned balding man with a beard and mustache who wore a dark colored jacket and blue jeans.

Cops ask anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS.