When cops nabbed career criminal Ronald Swindell and his nephew Steffon red handed after robbing the home of actress Keri Russell and another down the block, two stories about two very different families became public.
As the news of Russell’s brush with crime broke, questions about where her husband, contractor Shane Deary, and two childern were while she was home alone in her Hicks Street rental. Reports earlier this year claimed the actress and family had temporarily relocated to Brooklyn Heights while their Boerum Hill home underwent some renovation. They couple looked quite happy in last year’s Elle Decor spread about that home.
This week, after thanking the NYPD for their help in nabbing the Swindells, Russell and Deary announced that they have separated. On Thursday paparazzi were on hand to catch Russell and Deary, together for the first time in public since news of their breakup, taking their kids to school.
While Russell and her family tried to get back to their regular routine, another family drama was unfolding nearby at Brooklyn Criminal Court. Ronald Swindell was being charged with burglary and criminal possession of stolen property. His nephew, Steffon, received only the latter charge.
NYDN: Steffon Swindell’s mom, Tannen, blamed her brother for teaching her son how to be a cat burglar. She said her son is on probation for a burglary over the summer, but seemed to be straightening out his life before his uncle got out of prison.
“At Thanksgiving he showed me he’d finished high school,” said the mother, whose son attended Thomas Jefferson High School in Brooklyn. “He’s been doing well. He showed me a college application.”
Loretta Swindell said her brother, Ronald, has been institutionalized since he was 10, going from foster home to prison.
“Steffon is just a boy, but he’s following in the footsteps of my brother,” Loretta Swindell said. “He doesn’t know what he’s in for.”
