Suffolk police say a suspected serial burglar arrested in West Islip Wednesday is currently serving time for similar crimes.

According to police, 39-year-old Christopher Turner, of Bay Shore, was convicted of several Long Island robberies in the late 1990s. They say he owes his freedom to a work-release program sanctioned by the New York City corrections office. As long as he holds down a job, Turner is required to spend only two nights of the week in jail. Turner is now accused of a string of 10 Suffolk home burglaries in a nine-day period. Two of the home invasions were in West Islip, four in East Islip, three in Babylon and one in Bohemia.

Turner also allegedly robbed additional homes on the south shore of Nassau County. In each of the Suffolk burglaries, police say the homeowners were present and Turner acted very quietly to avoid detection.