Four Plead Guilty in New Brunswick Parking Garage Theft

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ - Four former employees of the New Brunswick Parking Authority will be placed on probation for stealing more than $500 in parking fees from the city agency, the Middlesex County prosecutor announced Tuesday.

Three of the defendants pleaded guilty Monday to a third-degree count of conspiracy to commit theft. They are: Karran Buchhan, 19, of the Somerset section of Franklin Township; Joshue Castillo-Mendoza, 25, of the Kendall Park section of South Brunswick, and Ferrad West, 23, of East Brunswick.

They are scheduled to be sentenced in New Brunswick to probationary terms on May 22, 2017 by Superior Court Judge Alberto Rivas.

A fourth defendant, Atis Mir-Merced, 19, of the Kendall Park section of South Brunswick, pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge, but will be permitted to enter the pre-trial intervention program for first-time offenders.

The four had been charged with plotting to take cash payments from New Brunswick Parking Authority customers to park cars illegally between January 1, 2016 and March 4, 2016.

Detective Harry Lemmerling of the New Brunswick Police Department determined that the four employees worked as parking valets at two Dennis Street restaurants and conspired to sell parking spots to motorists, whose cars were parked at the Wolfson parking deck, a parking deck owned and operated by the city.

Under agreements reached with Middlesex County Assistant Prosecutor Christine D’Elia, each of the four defendants also will pay the parking authority $200 in restitution and will be forever barred from holding a public job.

They were charged during an investigation that began after parking authority officials learned of the thefts and contacted the New Brunswick Police Department.