Hands Off My Benz: Nutley Man Catches Alleged Car Burglar In Act, Police Say

Nutley police arrested a Bloomfield man on Wednesday after a Gerard Road resident allegedly caught him in the act of burglarizing his Mercedes Benz.

According to the Nutley Police Department, the incident took place around 2:20 a.m., when the resident allegedly caught Darren Clark, 21, attempting to burglarize his vehicle.

After hearing the man’s cries for help, an off-duty Nutley police officer arrived on the scene and placed handcuffs on the suspect, authorities stated.

Police said that Clark was allegedly in possession of a backpack containing various electronics equipment at the time of the incident, some of which belonged to residents of Ohlson Avenue and Gerard Road.

In addition, officers discovered that other vehicles in the area had been entered that night, police said.

Police charged Clark with three counts of burglary and one count of attempted burglary. He was held on $50,000 bail.

“It’s unusual to catch a perpetrator in the act, however, by chance, the Gerard Road resident went out to his car at the precise moment Clark was [allegedly] attempting to gain entry,” Police Chief Thomas Strumolo said. “It was also a stroke of luck that one of our off-duty officers heard the yells for help and was able to assist this resident.”

Nutley Mayor and Police Director Alphonse Petracco said that the township experienced several auto burglaries last week, and that Clark is being considered a suspect in those incidents as well.

“It was very brave of the Gerard Road resident to risk detaining [Clark], but in the end, it all worked out,” Petracco stated.

File photo via flickr