Staten Island man’s door cam showed person in his car. Woman with long rap sheet arrested. – SILive.com

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — A Lighthouse Hill homeowner was in his residence when his phone alerted him to activity at his car in the driveway via the doorbell camera.

Someone was inside one his vehicles.

“She came in from the neighbor’s yard into my yard,” said the man, who wished to remain anonymous, regarding the incident on a Saturday morning last month. “My family is traumatized from it, my wife wants me to get a better security system.”

In video given to the Advance/SILive.com, the doorbell cam footage shows a woman outside his Meisner Avenue home just after 8:50 a.m. The homeowner went outside because he thought it was his wife in the car, but once he approached the vehicle, he saw a woman he did not know.

The woman, identified by authorities as 35-year-old Ladoria Watkins — a felon with a long rap sheet — was in the car for about 30 seconds before the homeowner realized she was not his beloved wife.

After seeing Watkins on his property, the man immediately dialed 911.

“She just ignored me and kept walking,” said the homeowner. “Not acknowledging anything, just gave me a side profile view as I was going after her and kept walking.”

By the time police arrived, the stranger had fled down the street without taking anything from the vehicle. There was no damage to the car because the thief had gotten in through an unlocked door.

“I was in my underwear so I didn’t get very far,” recounted the victim. “That was the problem, I wasn’t dressed to chase after her.”

Police found and arrested Watkins a few blocks away. She faces two misdemeanor charges of attempted petit larceny and unauthorized use of a vehicle without the owner’s consent in connection to the early morning encounter.

“She entered the complainant’s vehicle without permission and attempted to remove items from vehicle,” said a spokesman for NYPD.

The homeowner says the incident has traumatized the family.

“Be vigilant and lock your doors,” the Lighthouse Hill resident advised. “Don’t be afraid.”

Currently, Watkins is being held in jail.

A LENGTHY HISTORY

Watkins, an Elm Park resident with a lengthy criminal background, currently has four open cases from 2023 alone. In 2022, she was sentenced to up to five years in prison for a burglary.

According to court documents, in April Watkins was arrested and charged with two misdemeanors and one felony count.

In May, Watkins was arrested twice on the 8th and 24th on charges that include criminal trespassing and unauthorized use of a vehicle, according to court records.

The April 2022 conviction that resulted in prison time stemmed from an Aug. 11, 2019, burglary.

In 2018, Watkins was arrested when she was caught red-handed allegedly rifling through a car in Eltingville.

In 2017, police said she was one half of a pair accused of stealing a mattress from Target.

In 2015 at the age of 28, Watkins was arrested after a police officer returning home from work spotted her allegedly breaking into a relative’s car, a law enforcement source said at the time. Watkins had been paroled a few hours earlier from a prison sentence of two to four years stemming from a grand larceny in August 2012.

An attorney representing her in her most recent cases did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“I do want to make it known to my fellow residents of Staten Island that this happened, to stay vigilant, and not be afraid to stand up to these criminals,” said the homeowner. “We must be able to take back our streets and live in peace.”

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