A “relentless serial burglar” who authorities say targeted the homes of women and photographed them while they slept has been indicted by a Monmouth County Grand Jury, according to reports in today’s Asbury Park Press and Star-Ledger.

Mauro Vasquez-Galvan, 27, of Red Bank is accused of seven residential break-ins and 19 car burglaries over a nine-month span. The charges are included in a 57-count indictment.

From the Press, quoting Monmouth County Prosecutor Luis A. Valetin:

Vasquez-Galvan targeted women for his break-ins, prosecutors said, even creating photo albums of his victims, Valentin said.

The charges stem from two attempted and five completed residential burglaries that occurred in May and June 2007 in the area of Mechanic Street, east of Broad Street, in Red Bank, Valentin said.

The 19 auto burglaries and related theft charges follow a string of car break-ins that occurred from October 2006 through June 2007 in the same area, prosecutors said.

“During the months of May and June, 2007, numerous residential burglaries and attempted residential burglaries were reported to the Red Bank police department. Each of these burglaries and attempted burglaries occurred within four blocks of Mechanic Street. All of the victims were female,” Valentin said.

In at least three of the burglaries, the burglar entered the home while the victims were asleep.

A variety of property, including electronic equipment, cash, jewelry, and undergarments, were stolen from the residences, police said.

A police undercover operation ultimately led to Vasquez-Galvan’s arrest, Valentin said.

Some of the stolen property included memory cards and film contained within cameras taken from the victims’ homes and cars, prosecutors said.

Vasquez-Galvan had developed and framed some of these photographs, and had assembled others into photo albums, Valentin said.

“Vasquez-Galvan carefully and specifically targeted many of his victims based upon their gender,” Valentin said. “The tenacious work of the Red Bank Police Department, from patrols to detectives to supervisors, resulted in the identification and apprehension of this relentless serial burglar.”

Undercover surveillance by the Red Bank police resulted in Vasquez-Galvan’s arrest on trespassing charges in the yard of a Linden Place home at about 4a last June 15.

Subsequent investigation turned up some 360 purportedly stolen items, including electronics, undergarments and photographs. In two of the residential burglaries, Vasquez-Galvan took photographs of the victims’ “intimate areas” while the women were asleep, a press release from the prosecutors’ office says.

Vasquez-Galvan is being held on $250,000 bail at the Monmouth County Correctional Institution.

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