‘RHONJ’s Dolores Catania Shares Terrifying Experience of Home Break-In’

Dolores Catania opened up about a harrowing incident she experienced when the New Jersey townhome she lives in with her boyfriend was invaded by robbers armed with a blowtorch.

The Real Housewives of New Jersey star, 54, chat about the chilling life experience while appearing Monday on the SiriusXM show Jeff Lewis Live.

Catania, a regular on the Bravo series since 2016’s season seven, said that the incident took place during a time she and her boyfriend Paul Connell were filming the first season of the real housewives of Rhode Island for Bravo.

‘Paul had his phone off, and he was performing for everyone there,’ Catania said. ‘He was drinking tequila.

‘And my phone was going off, and I saw it was his son. 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.”‘

Connell said that Catania is not one to ‘get startled’ easily, so her shock at the phone call ‘scared the s*** out of him,’ noting that things were ‘pretty bad’ in the wake of the attack. 

The invaders ‘came in with a blowtorch’ as a means of bypassing the security systems in the home, as it would allow entry ‘without setting off the alarm,’ Catania said.

Connell said the practice was ‘a new thing’ criminals were doing to bypass expensive security systems.

Connell said he has ‘a glass-break sensor that only goes off when the pitch is high.

‘But when you heat it, it shatters without cracking and then you just push it through with your hand and walk in.’

Both Catania and Connell stressed that the Garden State abode had been equipped with an ‘insane’ security system.

The contraption they have set up baited the intruder by staying quiet for 90 seconds while flagging police that a crime was in progress, Connell said.

Connell said that ‘by the time [the intruders] left and the cops got there, it was 20 seconds.’

Connell said that the intruders took ‘about eight minutes trying to get in’ and ultimately ‘were inside the house for about a minute and something.’

Even if they had been successful, the thieves would not have left the New Jersey townhome with a profitable haul, Connell said, as the couple traditionally do not keep valuables at that property, as ‘it’s not worth it.’

Connell said the law enforcement response was ‘no joke,’ as Catania noted police arrived at the scene ‘with their guns’ drawn.

Catania said that celebrities and other public figures need to be mindful of sharing their location with the public in real-time, as they potentially can leave themselves open to be the victims of crime.

‘We all love to post when we’re out and we’re away,’ Catania said. ‘Paul posted that day that we were in Rhode Island, and that night, we got broken into.’

Connell said in agreement: ‘First and last time – lesson learned.’ 

In addition to her work on Bravo, Catania has also established herself as a prominent philanthropist: She was honored for her efforts by Brooklyn’s by Brooklyn’s Maimonides Medical Center in 2020, and also devotes time to animal rescue groups.