~ Ex Committed Grand Larceny | Ny Order Of Protection Violation ~

I have a long-standing Order of Protection against my abusive ex which specifically forbids Grand Larceny. My former attorney reached out to my ex's attorney to request permission to enter our previous residence in a secondary county to retrieve my belongings. His attorney responded with two fabrications: "My client has advised me that there are no belongings of your client in the house. She vacated that apartment in 2019."

I say fabrication, as we used this apartment as a second residence. My belongings were NOT simply sitting there. I last visited not long ago before fleeing my ex due to severe domestic violence.

Initially my former attorney, my crime advocate and two different police departments all told me I'd need receipts for EVERY item, that this was a civil matter, that I'd have to file a police report in that far away county (with two little kids in tow) and then sue in that county's civil court. I then lost my attorney due to lack of domestic violence funding, but recently self-sleuthed definitive proof my ex is either committing insurance fraud or lying about my belongings. He's lying.

I have correspondences and statements from an insurance giant, demonstrating that until recently (2026), my ex had insured me/my property within the apartment. I'd been a co-insured for at least five years, having also been covered via a second insurer. Thus my ex cannot claim "abandonment". Furthermore, he cannot claim the insurance was an oversight, as each year he was required to notify the insurer of any changes. He had an opportunity to do so, but did not.

Had my attorney honored my request to share the original emailed response this fall, I'd have also noticed an immediate discrepancy. The only "house" that could have been referenced is my MIL's house, a short drive away. Slip of the tongue or intentional faux pas to avoid being caught in a lie?

More importantly, my ex and I moved with our first child in 2019 to a different town. However he also knows all of my belongings remained along with many of his. The apartment remained furnished for visits to his family and side excursions. We'd also agreed it would be prudent to sublet it, hence had left it "staged" and to potentially leave select belongings (including mine) to rent it out furnished. By way of proof I also have time/location/date metadata stamped photographs of my belongings, snapped roughly two weeks after he assaulted me in yet a different county in late 2025, shortly before fleeing him for good.

The theft included furniture, work and formal clothing, professional portfolio pieces (thus inhibiting my ability to find employment), my entire book collection (including first edition expensive vintage volumes and books I've been profiled in that are now out of print), family photographs....and frozen biological evidence intended for our children's personal injury case, for which I have a letter from a previously secured attorney confirming the merits of the case. In essence, my ex has stolen the "spoliation" equivalent of his kids' education in potential lawsuit winnings, not to mention easily 40K from me.

Now onto my questions:

1. Can I contact the DA where the theft occurred to report the OP violation to request a search warrant for the apartment? If the DA can handle the case, will I be required to make the long trip to the location where the theft occurred to file a complaint in person? Will I need a police report from that county as well?
2. New York Criminal Procedure Law (CPL) § 140.10(4) appears to require MANDATORY arrest. Is this true?

"Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, a police officer shall arrest a person, and shall not attempt to reconcile the parties or mediate, where such officer has reasonable cause to believe that:

(b) a duly served order of protection... is in effect... and where the officer has reasonable cause to believe that such person has violated a stay away provision of such order... or has committed a family offense...

(c) an order of protection is in effect... and the officer has reasonable cause to believe that the respondent or defendant has committed a crime or offense in violation of such order of protection..."

3) If my ex is arrested in county #2, what's likely to happen next? He's wealthy, so I imagine bail and a slap on the wrist.

4) I actually want my stuff back, not to be compensated for its loss. But if it's been destroyed or sold....what do I do next to get compensated?

5) My previous attorney didn't want to report my ex for another arrestable offense, having insisted I'd lose child support if he were to be fired. But I read that if terminated "with cause", the CS magistrate is supposed to require the ex to pay the same amount in support, as this amounts to the equivalent of "willfully unemployed". Were he not wealthy, this would petrify. But he has milllions in assets and in the past six months has spent over 120K in liquid cash...so I don't think my kids would be left without support.

My ex can no longer physically or verbally hurt my children or me anymore, but he is exerting coercive control by punishing me and the children financially.

Thanks in advance for guidance..

location: New York