How a serial burglar exploited NY's lax bail laws - and the effort it took to finally lock him up

"Orest Kovalshyn, 37, had a string of commercial burglary arrests in Queens and Brooklyn dating to 2022, but was repeatedly cut loose because state criminal justice reforms barred judges from setting bail. Even when Brooklyn prosecutors won a conviction last year that landed Kovalshyn a 1-to-3-year state prison stint, he was back on the streets in less than a year - and getting busted and released again. But his latest arrest, just months after he left prison, finally did him in, when Kovalshyn blew off court one too many times, got pinched for two more Queens heists and violated his state parole."

"The 2019 criminal justice reforms prohibits Empire State judges from setting bail in most criminal cases, particularly non-violent theft and larceny offenses. One frustrated law enforcement source said Kovalshyn should've been locked up months ago. "He was too busy breaking into stores at night to get up in the morning to go to court," the source told The Post. "Same old story. They don't hold criminals accountable and innocent citizens are victimized.""

"Kovalshyn already had a string of heists under his belt when the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office hit him with charges in eight different borough burglaries between November 2022 and January 2023. It was enough to get him sent upstate to the Cape Vincent Correctional Facility in July 2024 on a sentence of up to three years. State correction records show that he was back on the streets by the end of November. In early June, Brooklyn prosecutors charged Kovalshyn with three more burglary cases dating to August 2023, while the Queens DA's office added two more cases tied to thefts on Dec. 16, 2022 and Sept. 8, 2023."

Orest Kovalshyn, 37, repeatedly burglarized Queens and Brooklyn businesses beginning in 2022 and faced multiple arrests while often being released pretrial due to state bail restrictions. A 1-to-3-year conviction sent him to an upstate facility in July 2024, but correction records indicate he was back on the streets by late November. Prosecutors in Brooklyn and Queens filed additional burglary charges that predated and postdated his prison term. Multiple re-arrests and subsequent releases followed until missed court appearances, new Queens heists and a parole violation led to detention. Law enforcement sources criticized the inability to hold him pretrial under current reforms.

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