NYPD: DNA from blood trail links man to burglary at Staten Island restaurant

Oriental Plaza

The defendant was charged with a March 3, 2025, burglary at Oriental Plaza restaurant at 1845 Richmond Avenue in Bulls Head.(Advance/SILive.com | Jan Somma-Hammel)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — DNA evidence led to the arrest of a 36-year-old man in connection with the burglary of a popular restaurant in Bulls Head, according to authorities.

Bin Lin, 36, of 48th Street in Brooklyn, was apprehended in May and charged with the break-in on Staten Island, as well as heists in Brooklyn and Queens.

Police identified the defendant’s alleged burglary at the Oriental Plaza restaurant at 1845 Richmond Ave. on March 3 as part of a citywide pattern that included 13 break-ins on Staten Island and in Manhattan and Brooklyn, according to a previous statement from the NYPD.

Oriental Plaza was the target of three separate heists that were included in the pattern — half of the six burglaries that occurred on Staten Island, police said.

At this time, however, Lin is only charged with the March 3 burglary at Oriental Plaza. He has not formally been charged with the other incidents included in the pattern.

The criminal complaint alleges that Lin broke into Oriental Plaza after the restaurant closed around 11:30 p.m. on March 3.

An employee returned to the restaurant at about 2 a.m. on March 4 and saw a hole in a window and shattered glass on the floor below the broken window, police said.

An employee spotted a trail of blood leading from the window to a cash register and noticed that money was missing, according to the complaint.

A sample of blood swabbed from the restaurant floor was analyzed in a laboratory.

The DNA profile was a 99.90% match to Lin, prosecutors allege in the complaint.

Lin has been charged with burglary, criminal mischief, petit larceny, criminal possession of stolen property and criminal trespass in the March 3 incident.

2 other burglary cases in NYC

Lin also faces burglary charges in two other boroughs.

On March 14, shortly before 3 a.m., Lin allegedly used an unknown object to shatter a glass door at 270 Court St. in Brooklyn and remove the register drawer. A restaurant is located at the address provided by authorities.

When police apprehended Lin a few minutes later, they found an electric grinder in one of his pockets, the complaint alleges.

The defendant has been charged with burglary, attempted burglary, possession of burglar’s tools, criminal mischief and trespass in that case.

In connection with a break-in at a home in Queens on Jan. 25, Lin was indicted by a grand jury on charges of burglary in the second and third degrees and petit larceny.

He stole personal property that belonged to the victim, the complaint alleges.

Lin has pleaded not guilty to all charges against him. He is being held at Rikers Island in lieu of bail set at $150,000 bond/$50,000 cash for the incident on Staten Island.

He is due to appear in state Supreme Court in Queens on June 16, in Criminal Court in St. George on July 2, and in state Supreme Court in Brooklyn on July 30, according to public records.

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