A Roselle Park man was arrested after he allegedly pretended to be his 17-year-old girlfriend's - who was caught shoplifting at a Linden thrift store - brother to get her out of jail.
Police responded to the Universal Thrift Store, 434 N. Wood Avenue, on a report of a female shoplifter Friday, according to Captain James Sarnicki.
Officers stopped the woman, later identified as a 17-year-old Linden juvenile.
The teen was asked to return the items from her purse, which included a gray sweater and gray pants, and then was told not to return to the store.
When the officers left the store, the juvenile returned to the thrift store and took the printed image of herself near the cash register before fleeing out the store onto N. Wood Ave.
Officers were called back to the store and apprehended the teen who was taken into custody. Once it was determined she was a juvenile, she called a guardian to pick her up.
Later, a man came to headquarters and advised police he was the teen's brother and was there to pick her up.
However police learned the the man, Brandon G. Andre, 24, of Roselle Park, was her boyfriend and not her brother.
Andre was immediately detained.
The teen was charged with trespassing and possession of marijuana and subsequently released to her aunt.
Andre was charged with hindering apprehension and was found to have two contempt warrants out of Elizabeth. He was being held on $1,000 bail pending a court date in municipal court.