Crime & Safety

Police Nab Noisy Burglar In Small South Jersey Town

Isaac Tzalam-Lucas is accused of stealing a fire extinguisher and cross from a local church before banging on residents' doors Monday night.

RIVERSIDE TOWNSHIP, NJ — Some burglars try to sneak into homes in the middle of the night. This one wanted to let residents know he was there, and may have been hoping someone might let him in.

Riverside residents were awoken to the sound of loud banging on the doors overnight Monday, July 30, according to police. Someone called the Riverside Police Department just before 3 a.m. to report the unruly disruption.

Not only was he banging loudly on their doors; he was trying to force his way into their homes. He damaged the outside of many houses and some other property, but wasn’t able to break into any home in the small Burlington County town of just over 8,000 people.

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Police were given a description of the man, and they found him a short time later carrying a fire extinguisher and a gold, hand-sized crucifix, police said. Police identified him as 19-year-old Isaac Tzalam-Lucas, of Riverside.

Police said he obtained the fire extinguisher and the cross after he broke into the former St. Peter’s Parochial School Building on Middleton Street.

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Lucas was charged with burglary, theft, criminal mischief, defiant trespassing and criminal attempt — burglary. Lucas was lodged at the Burlington County Correctional Facility pending a detention hearing.

The attached image of Isaac Tzalam-Lucas was posted online by the Riverside Township Police Department

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