Men Charged With Several Fair Lawn Burglaries

Two men have been charged with burglaries in Fair Lawn and Maywood, the result of an operation that broke up a multi-county burglary spree, the acting Bergen County prosecutor said Tuesday.

Newly appointed prosecutor Gurbir S. Grewal, said Arur Kotwica, 22, of Passaic, and Shaun Wilder, 27, of Old Bridge were arrested Monday behind a Hackensack apartment complex as they attempted to put a bag of stolen goods in the trunk of their car.

The prosecutor’s office Special Investigation Squad began looking into a series of residential burglaries with several similarities, including when they were reportedly committed and how the burglars entered the homes, Grewal said. Law enforcement agencies from Bergen, Passaic, and Essex counties met and shared information. Kotwica’s name came up as a “person of interest,” Grewal said.

A task force was assembled consisting of representatives from the prosecutor’s office Special Investigations Squad and police departments from Lyndhurst, Elmwood Park, Saddle Brook, Rutherford, Lodi, Wallington, Garfield, Hackensack, Fair Lawn, Rochelle Park, Carlstadt, Clifton, Little Falls, Nutley, Passaic, and Bloomfield police departments.

The task force began following Kotwica in December. While authorities followed him, the task force identified Wilder as a possible co-conspirator in the spree, Gerwal said.

Detectives followed Kotwica and Wilder to a Yerger Road residence in Fair Lawn and broke into the home, but fled after activating the alarm system, Gerwal said. Later, Kotwica and Wilder went to Maywood and broke into a residence; one of them fled after he was confronted by the homeowner, Gerwal said.

Authorities found their vehicle in Maywood, but only saw one of the men still in it, which made them think the other man might be attempting another burglary in the area, Gerwal said. Kotwica was seen returning to the vehicle and detectives followed it to the back of a high-rise apartment complex in Hackensack. Authorities then saw Kotwica putting a cloth sack in the vehicle’s trunk, Gerwal said.

The investigation is ongoing.

Wilder and Kotwica were each charged with three counts of burglary and theft. Kotwica’s and Wilder’s bail was set at $350,000 and $100,000, respectively, with no 10 percent option. 

Kotwica and Wilder were being lodged in the Bergen County Jail Tuesday, the prosecutor said.

(Artur Kotwica (left) and Shau Wilder/Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office)