A Freehold Township woman noticed a car in her neighborhood that seemed suspicious, so she called police with a description of the vehicle Tuesday night.
Earlier that night, Colts Neck residents also saw a suspicious vehicle in their neighborhood, so they noted the license plate number of the car.
It was those tips from residents that led to the arrest of a Paterson man, charges in a Colts Neck burglary case, and the discovery of a break-in in Freehold Township -- before the residents even knew their homes had been burglarized, authorities said.
Demar Brown, 26, has been charged in Colts Neck with burglary, theft, and criminal mischief, and in Freehold Township with conspiracy to commit burglary and possession of stolen property.
"It was because of the public's keen eye that we were able to (arrest him)," said Freehold Township Detective William Rette.
Brown was taken into custody Tuesday night, while apparently free on bail from charges filed against him in December by police in Holmdel and Middletown.
Now, police are trying to determine if Brown is connected to several other burglary cases in western Monmouth County in which the phone lines of homes were cut and valuables were stolen. And they are searching for other suspects.
Around 8:15 p.m., Freehold Township Patrolman Jack Mandala responded to the call about the suspicious vehicle and found Brown sitting in a rented 2010 Hyundai Sonata, parked in a cul-de-sac on Yearling Place.
Police said they began to talk to Brown, and they noticed items in the backseat that turned out to be stolen from Colts Neck.
Officers began checking each house on that block, and they realized the back door of one of the homes had been forced open, Rette said. The telephone lines to the home had been cut, and the residents had not yet returned home, police said.
K9 units from the Monmouth County Sheriff's Department and Bradley Beach Police Department were called to the scene, along with a county helicopter crew, to search for other suspects, police said. None was found.
Around 9:15 p.m., a Colts Neck woman returned to her Slope Brook Lane home and realized it had been burglarized, police said.
Police believe entry was gained through a rear window, and some $5,000 worth of jewelry and other items were stolen, said Colts Neck Detective Sgt. Joseph Whitehead.
He said police have been asking residents to call them about suspicious activity, so that's why the Colts Neck residents noted the license plate number of the suspicious car in their neighborhood that evening. They gave police that license plate number, and police said they used it to connect Brown to that break-in.
On Dec. 30, Brown was arrested by Holmdel police. In that case, police responded to a call about a suspicious vehicle in a neighborhood off of Crawfords Corner Road. When officers tried to pull him over, he drove away, eventually pulling into the vacant AT&T property, police said.
He jumped out of the rented Ford Focus, and ran into the woods near Garden State Parkway, but was arrested by Holmdel Officers Theodore Sigismondi and Robert Philhower, police said.
In that case, he was charged with attempting to elude police, possession of weapon for unlawful purposes, possession of burglary tools and receiving stolen property.
That property was stolen from a home in Middletown, police said.
Middletown police then charged him with the Dec. 30 burglary and theft from a Westwood Drive home, where telephone lines had been cut, authorities said.
Brown's bail was set at $60,000 on the Colts Neck charges and $80,000 on the Freehold charges.
Whitehead, Detective Richard Zarrillo, and Patrolman Matthew Miyakawa handled the Colts Neck investigation. Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Whitehead at 732-780-7323 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 732-780-7323 end_of_the_skype_highlighting. Detectives also ask that any residents who notice suspicious activity in their neighborhood call police immediately.
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Marc LeVine 11:19 am on May 1, 2010 Permalink |
Wonderful police work! I know it is often frustrating to report suspicious activity in our neighborhoods and then to see “nothing happen” as it continues on, in plain sight. Know that the police are doing their job to get these folks and to make the charges stick.
mariamaria 2:34 pm on May 24, 2010 Permalink |
Why they put a pic of a FBPD car I don’t know. They had nothing to do with this bust. It’s been going on for so long under their noses, they deserve no credit for this.