RHONJ’s Dolores Catania Says Police Missed Home Robbery Suspects by 27 Seconds

UPDATE 10/10/25 at 2:36 p.m.: Dolores Catania said that police were mere seconds behind the burglars who broke into her home last month while she and boyfriend Paul “Paulie” Connell were out of town.

During an appearance on iHeartRadio’s “Two Ts in a Pod” podcast 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-fact, showing how close law enforcement came to catching the suspects.

“Our alarm is hooked up to the police station, the SWAT, you name it,” she said. “When they got in, they thought they were in and all of the sudden the house started screaming at them, like ‘get out, get out.’ So we have them on camera and the cops came, they ran out and missed them by 27 seconds.”

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

Original story below:

Dolores Catania revealed her home was recently broken into while she and boyfriend Paul “Paulie” Connell were out of town.

“Our house got broken into last week … or two weeks ago,” the Real Housewives of New Jersey star, 54, said during a Monday, October 6, appearance on SiriusXM’s Jeff Lewis Live. “They came in with a blowtorch.”

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

“We were in Rhode Island, and as I told you before, I would be doing some cameos on the new [Real] Housewives of Rhode Island, and we were filming,” she said. “Paulie had his phone off, and he was performing for everyone there.”

Catania explained that she and Connell were simply enjoying a fun night out together. While enjoying their time away, Dolores noticed Connell’s son was calling her. (Paulie shares two sons, Brooklyn and Kameron, with ex-wife Joanne Connell. Dolores, for her part, is mother to son Frankie and daughter Gabby with 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 goes, ‘Is my dad there? The house just got broken into.’”

While Paulie didn’t hear what his son told Dolores at first, he could tell it was serious since she had a startled expression.

“I thought something happened to one of my kids or somebody’s child … but [the break-in] was pretty bad,” Paulie explained.

Neither of Dolores’s nor Paulie’s kids were home at the time of the incident. Paulie’s son found out because the police contacted him to relay what happened.

“Apparently, they came in with a blowtorch. They broke the window,” Paulie said. “They heated it so it wouldn’t set off the alarm. So it shatters without setting off the alarm.”

Dolores shared that Paulie has the “most insane alarm system” installed at their home that will shout at an “intruder” to “get out.” The reality star had some good news as the alleged burglars “didn’t take one thing” because of how quickly the police arrived at the scene.

“They were inside the house for about a minute and something,” Paulie said. “They [spent] eight minutes trying to get in because they used this torch because the glass was tempered. So rather than smash the glass and set off the alarm, they heat it.”

While the burglars allegedly tried to bypass the alarm by heating the glass, their system was triggered thanks to the motion sensor inside the home. The system typically stays silent for the “first minute and a half” before the alarm sounds and alerts the authorities.

Dolores then shared some advice to everyone to help keep them from being a target.

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

Paulie teased that he’s not the only one who has done that, as Dolores previously did the same when they took a recent trip to Brazil. When asked if Dolores keeps her valuables tucked away in a safe, she issued another warning to anyone considering breaking into the house.

“Don’t bother breaking in our house,” she quipped.