Wayne Township has announced that recently, vehicles parked in residential driveways in Wayne have been targeted for theft of their wheels. These thefts occurred during overnight hours.
According to Wayne Township, in all of these incidents, the suspect would find nearby rocks and place them under the vehicles in order to complete the theft.
The Wayne Township Police Department Detective Bureau has been actively collecting evidence and pursuing these cases. During this investigation, a potential suspect vehicle was identified along with a description of the suspect.
According to township officials, at approximately 1:50 a.m. on July 1, Police Officer Steven Papile located a vehicle matching the suspect vehicle description parked on Andover Drive, near the intersection with Burnside Place.
Township officials said that Officer Papile located Mr. Antony M. Arlequin-Salcedo, 22, of Paterson who matched the description of the suspect, within the vehicle.
The on-scene investigation revealed tools to complete these thefts located near a vehicle in a nearby driveway.
According to township officials, Mr. Arlequin-Salcedo was arrested and charged with Attempted Theft, Credit Card Theft, Possession of Burglary Tools and Possession of False Government Documents.
Township officials said the suspect vehicle that Mr. Arlequin-Salcedo was operating was also found to have a set of wheels and tires stolen the previous evening on the vehicle. The vehicle was towed from the scene and these tires and wheels were seized and returned to the owner.
The Township said that Mr. Arlequin-Salcedo was also charged with three separate counts of Theft for the other aforementioned tire and wheel thefts. Mr. Arlequin-Salcedo was released on summons pursuant to the New Jersey Criminal Justice Reform Act.
He was then released to the custody of a neighboring law enforcement agency to be charged for a similar incident that occurred in their jurisdiction.