Three Newark men and a 17-year-old were charged with burglarizing four Bergen County houses and attempting to break into another in one night last year, investigators said Tuesday.
The burglary spree began shortly before 1 a.m. on November 26, 2024, at a home on Chestnut Street in Englewood, according to a release from the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office. The resident reported hearing someone in the house and activating the home’s security alarm. They informed police that they witnessed a group of individuals fleeing in a dark-colored automobile.
A resident of a Devonshire Road residence in Cresskill reported a burglary around 1:13 a.m., according to the office. The suspects fled the scene before police arrived; however, security footage captured three people at a window in the back of the house using a crowbar to remove the screen. We also observed a dark-colored SUV fleeing the scene.
According to investigators, another burglary occurred at 2:11 a.m. at a Marion Lane residence in Paramus. Surveillance footage showed three guys, one wielding a crowbar, arriving in a dark-colored SUV and entering the property. Shortly afterwards, we observed them fleeing the property.
Thirty minutes later, police were summoned to a Tenafly residence and discovered that three men attempted to enter through a back window but escaped in a dark-colored SUV when the glass was opened, triggering a security alarm, the office said.
Almost one hour after the Tenafly incident, a fifth and final incident occurred at an Englewood residence, where three persons smashed open a window and burglarized the house, according to officials.
After months of inquiry, cops identified the suspects as 18-year-old Jason Amador, Raheim Maldonado, 23, Altamir Thornton, 22, both from Newark, and a 17-year-old boy.
Maldonado and Thornton were detained on the same day as the burglary spree for their involvement in a separate armed robbery investigation that began last August, according to police. They’ve been in jail since then.
Detectives concluded that the couple conducted four burglaries and one attempted break-in hours before their arrest, and after searching Thornton’s home, they discovered stolen goods, according to the office.
Maldonado and Thornton were charged on April 28 with first-degree use of a 17-year-old to commit a crime, four counts of second-degree residential burglary, one count of second-degree criminal attempt to commit a residential burglary, and third-degree theft by unlawful taking, according to officials. They will remain in custody until their trial.
Amador and the teen were arrested on April 25 in Newark and Woodbridge, according to investigators.
Amador was charged with first-degree use of a 17-year-old to commit a criminal act, multiple counts of burglary-related charges, and third-degree theft by unlawful taking, according to the agency. He was being held at the Bergen County Jail until his detention hearing.
The 17-year-old male was charged with juvenile delinquency, including four charges of second-degree residential burglary, second-degree criminal attempt to commit a residential burglary, and third-degree theft by unlawful taking, according to authorities. He was being kept at the Bergen County Juvenile Detention Center awaiting further court hearings.
