Police Blotter - Feb. 5th-12th: Theft on Chestnut and Jar of Sauce on Park

This is Rutherford publishes incidents that the public may find interesting or informative. The Blotter represents a small fraction of the total calls the RDP responds to regularly. The following information was provided to TIR by the Rutherford Police. All suspects are presumed innocent unless proven guilty. Incidents involving juveniles will not be published.

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Monday, February 12th - Shoplifting, Park Ave

A caller reported a female stole items from the Krauser’s Mini Mart on Park Ave. Officer Batchelor reviewed video footage of the unknown woman asking the counter man for butter. After paying for the butter she left the store without incident. The store owner later reviewed surveillance footage and saw the woman put two bottles of Barefoot brand wine valued at $8.99 each in her bag while he was distracted by another customer. Footage showed the woman leave the scene in a car registered to a Rutherford resident. The owner of car was contacted and it was determined that the unknown woman was the resident’s nanny.

Sunday, February 11th - Theft, Chestnut St

A 56 year old male reported that Fedex delivered a package to his house that was then stolen. On Feb 12th the caller received a Fedex delivery notification at 1:04 pm. Upon returning at 4:30pm the package of pet care items valued at $79.98 was missing. A stolen property sheet was filed.

Sunday, February 11th - CDS Paraphernalia, Hastings Ave

A Hastings Village superintendent found a hypodermic needle and 2 small empty plastic bags in a bush on the 100 block of Hastings Ave. Officers secured the items and did not see any cameras in the area.

Sunday, February 10th - Dispute, Union Ave

A call was received via 911 about a dispute in process at the 7/11 on Union Ave that looked like a vehicle chasing a man on foot. Both parties agreed they had participated in the dispute. The caller, a man, was verbally harassing customers with racial comments. After RDP arrived, it was determined the individual was a 31 year old Weehawken resident and was told he could no longer go to 7/11. The incident is being investigated further.

Sunday, February 10th - Harassment, Wood Street

A 65 year old female reported receiving emails attempting to extort her for money and Bitcoins. At approximately 6:20 pm on Feb 7 she received an email from an unknown party stating they had hacked her router and now had access to her files. If she did not deposit $756 to their account, they would send embarrassing photos to all her friends and family within 48 hours. It seemed the email was sent from her own address, she contacted AOL and did not comply with the hackers.

Saturday, February 9th - Suspicious Vehicle, Park Ave

A 26 year old male reported a gold Camry was following him for about 10 blocks and drove away when he pulled into police headquarters at approximately 11 pm that night.

Wednesday, February 6th - Suspicious Incident, Park Ave

A 40 year old woman caller reported that her 80 year old mother had 2 suspicious individuals knock on her door on February 6th between 5:15 pm - 6:15 pm. Two unknown males in their 30’s wearing suits stated they were Jehovah's Witnesses and wished to speak to her. Their story then changed and they said they worked for a construction company and were doing follow up work. The woman was suspicious of them and asked them to remain on her front porch, but asked one of them to come into her house to open a jar of sauce for her. The men left without incident. **RPD advises you to call police immediately if someone at your door doesn’t properly identify themselves and never allow them into your home (even to open a jar of sauce).

Tuesday, February 5th - Aid & Assist, Edgewood Place

An elderly resident said she could not find the deed to her house. Officer Ritter responded to help but could not locate the deed either. She thanked the Officer for his assistance.