Police Blotter: Man Takes Computer Equipment from Temple

Livingston police report that they arrested resident Bernard Searle following an incident at the Synagogue of the Suburban Torah Center at 85 W. Mount Pleasant Avenue.   

Police report that on April 8 at about 10:15 a.m. they received a call from an employee at Suburban Torah Center reporting that a man had entered the synagogue and was taking a computer printer.  

According to the police, the employee told Searle he was not authorized to enter the building  or to take computer equipment, to which he stated that he was buzzed in, the printer was his and that it was on loan to the synagogue.  

At the synagogue, police indicate they found a broken door. 

Searle was released on $50,000 bail, according to the police report.  As of April 13, the initial charges of robbery, trespass and simple assault were downgraded to theft, police report.

In other incidents, police report that on April 6 a little after 11 a.m. they received a call from MoFiddles, an instrument store at 4260 Town Center Way, regarding a curious cello.

Apparently, a woman came into MoFiddles that morning with a cello she wanted the shop to repair.  According to police, the woman said that she had bought the cello for $40.  But employees at MoFiddles thought that amount didn't sound right, as the instrument appeared to be expensive and handmade.  

According to police, the employees researched the serial number on the cello and traced it to Paul Schuback, a man in Portland (Oregon) who made the cello.  After contacting Schuback, they learned that he had made the expensive instrument in 1982 for a professor at the Juilliard School in Manhattan.

Apparently, that professor reported his cello missing from a taxi last year. Police report that he made an insurance claim on it, which was paid. Police are retaining the instrument until the matter is resolved between all parties.

Also on April 6, at about 4:15 p.m., police report that they received a call from Pannucci Paving located on N. Livingston Avenue that various equipment—including saws and a generator—was stolen from the site sometime that day. The value of the stolen items has not been determined.