Schenectady County District Attorney Robert Carney announced that Zai John Vanhoesen., 25, was sentenced to 20 years in prison on March 6, 2025, in Schenectady County Court. After about five hours of deliberation during an eight-day trial in November 2024, the jury convicted Vanhoesen of Burglary in the First Degree, Attempted Robbery in the First Degree, and Attempted Robbery in the Second Degree.
On January 31, 2023, at around 12:15 p.m., Vanhoesen and another male forcibly entered an apartment in Hillcrest Village in Niskayuna. Vanhoesen and his accomplice tricked the occupants into opening the door by announcing a package for delivery. When the occupants opened their door, Vanhoesen and the other male rushed into the apartment displaying what appeared to be a handgun and demanded money. Both males disguised themselves with black face masks. While in the apartment, Vanhoesen and the other male realized they had invaded the wrong apartment. The two men then ran out of the apartment leaving the occupants-- a mother and her two adult children-- in fear. The mother immediately called 911 allowing police to get an immediate lead on the attackers’ car. Evidence at trial revealed that Vanhoesen and his accomplice traveled to and from the Hillcrest Village home invasion in a car with vanity plates and a large pink Band-Aid decal that covered a bullet hole in the passenger-side door of the car. These details made it easier for investigators to track the car throughout the city. Extensive video footage from local businesses, Hillcrest Village apartments, and the Schenectady County public surveillance camera system revealed Vanhoesen’s path of travel in this car and documented his attempts to disguise himself. Vanhoesen and his accomplice purchased black face masks and zip ties approximately a half hour before the home invasion at a Schenectady local store that has high resolution video. Vanhoesen’s Parole Officer positively identified him from that store video as one of the individuals purchasing the zip-ties and ski masks.
Video footage from Hillcrest Village apartments showed that Vanhoesen was wearing the same clothing depicted in the local store’s 4K quality video. The Hillcrest Village footage also captures Vanhoesen donning a camouflage coat. One of the victims identified the male in the camouflage coat in that footage as the one who threatened her family with the gun. Additionally, Niskayuna Police Department collected Vanhoesen’s DNA from a water-bottle in the car once they located it later the same day. The Niskayuna Police Department ultimately linked the car to Vanhoesen’s accomplice.
Acting Schenectady County Court Judge Mark J. Caruso sentenced Vanhoesen to twenty (20) years in prison on the top count of the indictment coupled with 5 years of post-release supervision. Vanhoesen has a prior 2018 conviction in Albany County for Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree where he received a five-year prison sentence for shooting a woman in the leg with a loaded firearm. That woman suffered non-life-threatening injuries as a result of the attack. Vanhoesen was still on parole and had been released for about three months at the time he committed these new crimes. Judge Caruso indicated that his sentence would run consecutively to any time that Vanhoesen still owed to parole.
In his sentencing remarks to Vanhoesen, Judge Caruso announced that Vanhoesen is “not salvageable.” Caruso clarified that he hopes Vanhoesen “proves him wrong” but that his gut tells him otherwise. Caruso further indicated that he credits the victim’s testimony “one-hundred percent.” Caruso said that there was “no question in his mind” that Vanhoesen committed this crime and that Vanhoesen was the one carrying the gun. Caruso stated that there was no doubt based upon the evidence that “you were the most culpable, you were the one with the weapon, you did the bulk of the action.” Judge Caruso also issued thirty-one (31) year orders of protection for each of the victims.
Schenectady County Assistant District Attorney Jessica Lorusso and Assistant District Attorney Emma Moskowitz prosecuted the case. Kyle Davis, as assigned counsel, represented Vanhoesen at trial.