Dolores Catania reveals the police missed the robbers by 27 seconds

Updated 10/25/25 at 2:36 p.m.: Dolores Catania She said police were just seconds away from the burglars who broke into her home last month while she and her boyfriend were away Paul “Polly” Connell They were out of town.

During an appearance on iHeartRadio’sTwo Ts in a podpodcast on Friday, October 10, Catania explained that her alarm system alerted police to the break-in and she was able to review the footage after the incident occurred, showing how close law enforcement came to catching the suspects.

“Our alarm is connected to the police station, SWAT, you name it,” she said. “When they walked in, they thought they were inside and all of a sudden the house started yelling at them, like ‘Get out, get out.’ So we caught them on camera and the cops came, came out and missed them for 27 seconds.

Catania added that the quick reaction time meant the suspects were unable to steal anything.

Original story below:

Catania pain She revealed that her house was recently broken into while she and her boyfriend were away Paul “Polly” Connell They were out of town.

“Our house was broken into last week…or two weeks ago.” The Real Housewives of New Jersey The 54-year-old star said during an appearance on Monday, October 6 SiriusXM Jeff Lewis Live. “They came with a blowtorch.”

Catania’s revelation was met with a series of shouts and shocked expressions from those in the studio before she recalled the details of the incident.

“We were in Rhode Island, and like I told you before, I’m going to be playing some roles in the new movie (Real) Housewives of Rhode Island“We were filming. Paulie had his phone off, and he was performing for everyone there,” she said.

Catania explained that she and Connell were simply enjoying a fun night together. While she was enjoying her time away, Dolores noticed that Connell’s son was calling her. (Polly shares two sons, Brooklyn and Cameron, with her ex-wife Joan Connell. Dolores, for her part, is mother to son Frankie and daughter Gabby with her ex-husband Frank Catania.)

“My phone was going off and I saw it was his son,” she said. “I always answer for the kids, even if I’m in the middle of filming,” he says. “Is my dad there? “The house has just been broken into.”

Although Paulie didn’t hear what his son said to Dolores at first, he could tell it was serious given the stunned expression on her face.

“I thought something had happened to one of my kids or someone’s kid…but (the break-in) was really bad,” Pauley explained.

Neither Dolores nor Polly’s children were home at the time of the accident. Paulie’s son found out because the police called him to inform him of what had happened.

“Apparently, they came in with a blowtorch. They smashed the window,” Pauley said. “They overheated it so it wouldn’t set off the alarm. So it crashes without setting off the alarm.”

Dolores shared that Paulie has the “craziest alarm system” installed in their house that will scream at the “intruder” to “get out.” The reality star had some good news because the alleged robbers “didn’t take a single thing” due to how quickly police arrived at the scene.

“They were inside the house for about a minute,” Pauley said. “They (spent) eight minutes trying to get in because they used this torch because the glass was tempered. So instead of smashing the glass and setting off the alarm, they heated it up.”

While the thieves tried to bypass the alarm by heating the glass, their system was triggered thanks to a motion sensor inside the house. The system typically remains silent for “the first minute and a half” before an alarm goes off and the authorities are alerted.

Dolores then shared some tips for everyone to help prevent them from being a target.

“I want everyone to know this. We all like to post when we’re out and about, and Paulie posted that day we were in Rhode Island…and that night we were broken into.”

Paulie teased that he’s not the only one who did this, as Dolores had done the same thing previously when they took a recent trip to Brazil. When asked if Dolores kept her valuables in a safe, she issued another warning to anyone thinking of breaking into the house.

“Don’t bother breaking into our house,” she joked.