Police Blotter - Mar. 20th-26th: No Ma'am, You Can’t Return that Bagel; Adults Don’t Play Ring & Run

Monthly RPD Reports can be found here.

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 Incidents involving juveniles will not be published.

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Tuesday, March 26th - Suspicious Incident, Riverside Ave

A male in his 60’s reported he saw two men in a rowboat rowing toward an area where canoes are stored near Route 3. He believed the suspects were “up to no good”. RPD responded and found no one in the immediate area.

Sunday, March 24th - Verbal Dispute, Hawthorne Street

At 9:58 pm, a disturbance was reported in front of a residence. Officers responded and found a 30 year male from Hackensack, 27 year old female from Hackensack and a 25 year old female from Rutherford involved in a verbal dispute. They dispersed and no complaints were filed. The Hackensack woman was instructed not to contact the Rutherford resident again.

Saturday, March 23rd - Theft, Kidspot

A 44 year old male from Rutherford called the RPD and reported that his daughter’s cell phone was stolen at the Kidspot playground between 2:35 pm and 2:45 pm. The phone’s location was traced by a tracking system to a residence nearby where the phone was found destroyed and submerged in water. The residents of the home and their visitors denied any knowledge of the incident.

Saturday, March 23rd - Suspicious Incident, West Passaic Ave

At exactly midnight, a 63 year old female called the RPD to report a disturbance outside her home. After hearing what she believed to be a group of children, her doorball was rung. The group then ran away. Officers found a group nearby that included an 18 year old male that resides on Ridge Rd, a 28 year old male that resides on Delafield, an 18 year old male that resides on Sylvan St., an 18 year old male that resides on Carneer, and an 18 year old male that resides on Wood St. The group stated they were just joking around and that they were playing “Ring and Run, also known as Ding, Dong Ditch” and they would stop this behavior.

Friday, March 22nd - Civil Dispute, Station Square

At 5:37 pm, a 58 year female from Newark called to complain about a business near the train station because she was dissatisfied with the bagel she bought there. She claimed the bagel with cream cheese that she purchased for $1.75 was stale. The store denied her request for a refund and refused to exchange it for a new bagel. She expressed to the store how dissatisfied she was and was then asked to leave the premises. She said she would also follow up with the health department and civil courts.

Friday, March 22nd - Theft, Lincoln Ave

At approximately 3:17 pm a resident reported that an unknown party stole a delivered Amazon package valued at $35 from her front steps.

Friday, March 22nd - Suspicious Person, Highland Cross

At 11:51 am a complainant observed an occupant of a 2016 white Jeep Wrangler take a picture of the rear property at 8 Highland Cross. RPD was able to obtain the telephone number of the owner of the car. He confirmed he was at Top That Donuts earlier in the day and noticed a nearby house with a “leg lamp” like the one from the movie, A Christmas Story, in its window. He stopped to take a photo because it is his wife’s favorite movie.

Wednesday, March 20th - Fraud, Sylvan Street

A 35 year old female resident reported that she was the victim of fraud. On March 5th she received 2 notifications in the mail advising that her application for 2 store credits cards had been denied because she already had cards at those stores. She contacted Equifax to notify them of the attempted fraudulent activity and was informed that 2 additional store cards had been fraudulently opened in her name and purchases totaling $2,167 were made. She notified the stores of the fraudulent activity and was advised to file a police report. RPD provided her identity theft information.

Wednesday, March 20th - Burglary, Meadow Road

A 30 year old female resident reports that between 1:45 pm - 2:45 pm some toys she had put in her garage were missing. No forced entry was visible and the toys had no real value.

Wednesday, March 20th - Criminal Mischief, Park Ave

A 70 year old male resident reported an unknown individual may have sliced his tire and caused a leak. He suspects that this may have happened before, however, he did not report it. He believes this only happens when he parks between the 300-400 block of Park Ave.