Hoboken City Worker Stole 24 Batteries From Parking Meters: Cops

HOBOKEN, NJ — Hoboken police charged a city worker with theft after he allegedly stole 24 batteries from pay station parking meters throughout the municipality. Each battery was valued at $165, authorities said.

According to the Hoboken Police Department, officers received information about alleged battery thefts from several pay stations in December. It was first believed that 13 batteries were stolen, but officers soon discovered that at least 24 were missing. The total value of the batteries came to more than $3,000.

After launching an investigation into the thefts, police identified Wilfredo Gonzalez, 43, of Jersey City, as a suspect. On Jan. 12, Hoboken police set up an operation to arrest Gonzalez, a Department of Environmental Services worker, during which they discovered that he wasn’t at his assigned post and had left the city while he was supposed to be on duty.

Gonzalez was employed with the city for less than a year, and is part of a staff that collects the garbage while walking an assigned area, Hoboken police said.

Police later found him several hours later on the 200-block of Newark Street in the company of two men. The officers arrested Gonzalez, the “sole suspect” for the battery thefts, and charged him with 24 counts of theft of movable property, authorities said.

One of the other men at the scene, Luis Gonzalez, 48, of Jersey City, had an unrelated, outstanding warrant from the Hudson County Sheriff’s Office for bail jumping. He was placed under arrest and additionally charged with marijuana possession (under 50 grams), police said.

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File Photo: City of Hoboken