Police Blotter-5/22 - 5/29: Who Stole the Elderly Lady's Milk & Eggs? Lookout for Glued Mailboxes

Monthly RPD Reports can be found here. New: April Activity Report

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 Incidents involving juveniles will not be published.

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Wednesday, May 29th - Theft, Montross Ave

A 26 year old male from Montross Ave reported that on May 28th at approximately 1:33 pm a package from USPS was shown to be delivered to his residence. Upon return from work at approximately 8 pm on the same date, the package was not there. The package was valued at $83.60 and it contained an autographed Vikings football jersey. While speaking to RPD he mentioned that he also had a Fed-Ex package stolen from his porch in March which contained a Nintendo 64 Wayne Gretzky game with an approximate value $10.

Wednesday, May 29th - Theft, Mountain Way

A 92 year old female caller reported that a metal box containing eggs and milk was stolen from the rear of her residence. She states that every Wednesday morning, she gets a delivery from a Totowa dairy company that places 2 dozen eggs and a quart of milk in a metal box at her back door. The milk and eggs have an approximate value of $10.50. The metal box outside has an approximate $25 value. On Wednesday, May 29th at approximately 7:45 am her family went to check on the delivery and discovered the box and its contents missing. After following up with the company, it was determined that the delivery was made at approximately 6:32 am that day.

Tuesday, May 28th - Criminal Mischief, Park Ave

A caller reported his 2015 Lexus GS 3, parked in front of house on the 400 block of Park Ave, had been damaged. He stated that he parked on May 27th at 8pm and returned the following day to see numerous deep circular scratches on the driver’s side door.

Tuesday, May 28th - Fraud, Sylvan Street

A woman reported she mailed a check in the mailbox located on Sylvan St. and Spring Dell Ave on May 20th. Upon checking her balance on May 22nd, she noticed the check was deposited but made out to a larger sum than she wrote. Bank of America provided a copy of the check and she noted her signature was correct but the rest of the information was not. The check that was originally written was made out to Interstate Waste Services for $312.44. The deposited check was made out to Ibrahim Nabay for $4,512.31 .This information has been forwarded to USPS and Bank of America fraud division will follow up.

Tuesday, May 28th - Burglary, Ridge Road

A local contractor reported that an unoccupied house under construction on the 100-125 block of Ridge Rd had a large number of tools stolen sometime between 1:00 pm on May 25th and 7:00 am Tuesday, May 28th. The approximate value of the tools is $3,580. If you have any information, please call RPD at 201-460-3050.

Monday, May 27th - Fraud, Wells Place

A 65 year old female reported an unknown party attempted to gain access to her Social Security records while pretending to be her employee. The woman is a CPA who often works with the Dept of Social Security while handling her clients’ taxes. She received a letter on April 24th from the Social Security administration advising her that an unknown party had requested access to her Social Security online business account using a company name which was also unknown to her. After receiving this notice, she contacted Social Security via phone and email, advising them she has her own company but has no employees and no one should be permitted access to her account. She was advised that this person was trying to “check names and Social Security numbers of employees.” The woman advised them she did not grant anybody permission to request that info and has no employees. She did not approve the request and said she did not want them to be sent an activation code, at which time she felt her account was secure after speaking with agents from the administration. Again on May 20th, she received another notice detailing that the same person requested access to “report wages to the Social Security system,” once again through her account. She stated even though she emailed Social Security and spoke to a representative on the phone advising she had no employees, they approved the attempted scammer’s request. The woman would like the incident documented should any incident arise. She will follow up with Social Security to have her account changed and have access removed from individual.

Monday, May 27th - Suspicious Incident, Lincoln Ave

A 69 year old male from Rutherford reported a male party walking his dog and not picking up its feces. The caller wished to have the party summonsed. He was advised that since the RPD did not witness the incident, the caller would have to sign a complaint. Officer Steinel located a 19 year old male nearby who was walking his dog and in the process of and picking up its feces. The man admitted that a few nights earlier, while walking his dog, he did not have a bag and did not pick up the feces at the time. He was advised that he needs to take a bag each time he walks the dog and if the dog defecates more than once he has to return the location to pick up. The 19 year old said he understood.

Sunday, May 26th - DWI, East Pierrepont Ave

At approximately 3:38 am, RPD responded to a motor vehicle accident in which a 27 year old male driver struck a parked car on East Pierrepont Ave. Officer Ahearn detected a strong odor of alcohol emanating from the driver’s breath. A field sobriety test was completed on the scene and the Officer determined the individual was under the influence and was placed under arrest and transported to headquarters. The test resulted in a

0.12 % blood alcohol content and the individual was issued 3 summonses: DWI, DWI within a school vicinity, and careless driving. The accident created over $500 in damage to the parked car but no injuries reported. The man was released under John’s Law.

Saturday, May 25th - Criminal Mischief, Spring Dell

Caller reported damage done to his mailbox in the vestibule of his apartment. On May 6th, he observed damage to the keyhole portion of his mailbox. A drill may have been used to gain entry. He was unable to fit his key into the hole and unable to gain access, but has not yet informed building manager, however, he will do it soon.

Friday, May 24th - Criminal Mischief, Walls Field

Park Ranger Hild reported damage in the bathroom at Wall Field. It’s determined the damage must have been done on May 24th between 1pm and 10pm. Please call RPD at 201-460-3050 if you have any information.

Friday, May 24th - Suspicious Incident, Orient Way

A caller reported a large party and loud music coming from the area of West Gouveneur between Park Ave and Edgewood Place. Officers dispatched and located a group of juveniles in the rear who were there with the homeowner at approximately 9:36 pm. They stated they would keep the noise down.

Friday, May 24th - Suspicious Incident, Orient Way

A caller stated a 2 tone Mongoose BMX style bicycle was thrown into her backyard on the 150-200 block of West Newell. The caller stated that the bike was found on May 24th at approximately 1:00 pm. The caller did not recall observing the bicycle in the yard the previous day. It is now in the possession of the RPD. RPD checked project529.com and the state database with negative results. If you believe the bike to be yours and can identify the colors, please call RPD and reference case #19-11075.

Friday, May 24th - Suspicious Incident, Orient Way

At approximately 9:47 am an off-duty officer reported some type of sticky substance on a US postal mailbox near 47 Orient Way. RPD confirmed glue was on the mailbox in a possible attempt to steal mail. Other mailboxes in the area were checked and others also had a substance suspected to be glue. RPD notified USPS, which will have all boxes cleaned and will send RPD a complete list of boxes with any substances on them.

Thursday, May 23rd - Fraud, Wheaton Place

A 28 year old female contacted RPD to report unauthorized charges on her Bank of America credit card. Approximately $900 was spent between Home Depot and declined Walgreens purchases between 4-5 pm on May 23rd. She immediately closed the account and the bank will close the cards and follow up with the fraud department.

Thursday, May 23rd - Unwanted Party, Edwin L. Ward Memorial Highway

At approximately 3:10 pm RPD responded to an unwanted party at Extended Stay America. A 46 year old female from North Arlington was staying at the hotel and hadn’t paid her bill. Officers spoke to party and the manager agreed if she paid the existing balance on her bill she could remain until the conclusion of her stay.

Thursday, May 23rd - Dispute, Chestnut St

A 60 year old male resident who met a 55 year old female from Roseland, NJ on match.com reported he believed she was trying to obtain information from him in order to scam him or harm his character. He felt the woman was secretive and he believed her story about working for the government and doing search and rescue work to be truth. An RPD investigation concluded that was not the case. The woman did admit she gave him a false name. She told him she was going to Missouri for a relief effort and it would be difficult to get in touch with her while she was gone. The man then sent several texts the following day to see if she arrived safely, but she did not reply. When she did reply, the man said she was nasty and irritated and an argument ensued where they both used ugly language towards one another. The woman threatened to contact his employer and police. The man said he cut contact from her but that he did state he provided his employment, residential history and his credit score during their conversations. All these reasons made him believe he would become a victim of a scam. RDP was able to make contact with the woman who advised she used a fake name for dating profiles for her own protection. The woman said the man seemed nice at first but as the week progressed he “laid it on too thick and too strong.” She said she never asked for his information but the man bragged about himself, his house, and his knowledge of fine wines. The woman felt it was “too good to be true” so she ran him through beenverified.com. She did admit that she contacted his job because he texted her too many times and she requested his employer to speak to him on her behalf. Both parties have been advised not to contact one another and to consider it a learning experience.