NEW YORK _ A Suffolk County judge was thrown behind bars Thursday after he broke into a young neighbor's home in a bizarre panty raid, police said.
When Judge Robert Cicale, 49, was apprehended two blocks away, he had the illegal briefs on him, Suffolk County Police Department Acting Police Commissioner Stuart Cameron said.
"We don't know if (the underwear) was taken during this incident or a prior incident at the home," Cameron said.
Cops were called to a Donna Place address in East Islip about 9 a.m. _ after the 23-year-old victim heard a noise, saw a man in her home and called 911.
The intruder ran out as soon as he realized he wasn't alone, police said.
Suffolk County officers found the criminal court judge on Rosemary Place _ about two blocks away.
"(Cicale) fit the description given to us by the neighbor," Cameron said.
Suffolk County police charged him with burglary. He will be held overnight and is expected to be arraigned Friday.
A man who answered the young woman's door declined to comment saying, "We're just trying to figure it out."
Cicale also lives on Donna Place.
One neighbor knew him as a "family man" who lived on the block for a decade.
"No way, no way," Jay Moceri, a 42-year-old construction worker said. "He's always out there playing basketball with his kids and seems to be a good family man."
He described the allegations as "something definitely out of character."
Cicale, a Republican, was elected to the bench in 2015. He had been East Islip's town attorney since 2012.
The St. John's University Law School alumnus was also a member of the Legal Aid Society following his graduation from 1993 through 1998, according to his election biography.
