Police: Suspect In 'Multi-State Crime Spree' Arrested in Mahwah

An accused commercial burglar who has been convicted of over 50 felonies across the country and is a suspect in thefts in three states was arrested in Mahwah Wednesday, Chief James Batelli said.

Edward Alexander, of Badger Avenue in Newark, was arrested after police pulled him over for “driving a U-Haul van in a suspicious manner in a commercial area off of Route 17,” Batelli said in a release Thursday. Police “immediately recognized Alexander from surveillance photographs of recent daytime commercial burglaries that had occurred in Mahwah,” he said. Alexander is accused of taking personal belongings from employees of Mindray Manufacturing on Macarthur Blvd., and several offices inside the Sheraton Crossroads complex, police said.

When being pulled over, Alexander refused to cooperate with police, and would not identify himself, Batelli said.

Alexander’s alleged “MO was to enter a business wearing a fraudulent identification tag around his neck and, if confronted, he would identify himself as a courier, delivery person or tradesmen,” Batelli said. Once inside, Alexander allegedly went through office spaces to steal personal items, namely credit cards, police said. According to Batelli, Alexander is the prime suspect in similar crimes currently under investigation in Westchester County, Lyndhurst, Stamford, Connecticut, and Armonk, Mt. Pleasant, East Fishkill, Poughkeepsie, and Somers, NY.

In past instances, Alexander has been charged with theft, burglary, forgery, theft by deception and wrongful impersonation in New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Nevada, and Maryland, Batelli said.

Survellance photos and videos showing Alexander using allegedly stolen credit cards have “circulated between law enforcement agencies,” over the past few months, Batelli said.

In Mahwah, Alexander was charged with eluding police, hindering his arrest, burglary and theft, Batelli said. He was remanded to the Bergen County Jail in lieu of bail.

Mahwah Detective Lieutenant Martin Clancy and Detective Kevin Hebert investigated this case and arrested Alexander.