Three Bergen County Men, One NY Man Arrested in Connection with 30 Burglaries in Three Counties

Three Bergen County men, along with a New York man, were arrested in connection with a slew of residential burglaries and thefts.

Jamelle Singletary, 26, Lawal Erskine, 30, Jamaal Sermon, 30, all from Teaneack, and David Tadjiev, 39, of New York, were arrested following a nine month investigation by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, Special Investigation Squad, Harrison NY Police Department, local municipal police departments and the Westchester NY County District Attorney’s Office, according to Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli.

The investigation came in February of 2014 after Bergen County detectives linked together more than 30 residential burglaries in Bergen, Morris and Somerset Counties.

According to Molinelli, the burglars generally targeted residences located in affluent neighborhoods, likely selected by their size, the presence of expensive vehicles in the driveway and the appearance of the residence being unoccupied at the time. The residences were also generally attacked in the early evening hours during the middle of the week, and were often located in or adjacent to a cul-de-sac.

The forced entries were often gained by forcing open the front doors and once inside, the burglars proceeded to the master bedrooms and removed jewelry, cash and other property. In most of the incidents, pillow cases were taken from the residences and likely used to transport the property, according to Molinelli.

The investigation revealed that the burglars would often take the stolen property to a “fence” in New York City, who paid large amounts of money in exchange for the stolen proceeds. This “fence,” later identified as David Tadjiev, operated a jewelry business in the Diamond District.

Jamelle Singletary became a suspect after authorities formed a task force concentrating on Tadjiev’s fencing operation and his trafficking of the stolen property. Then while authorities tracked Singletary on Nov. 6, they observed him enter a vehicle occupied by Lawal Erskine and Jamaal Sermon. The vehicle was tracked from Teaneck to Somerset County.

While in Somerset County, investigators later confirmed that the individuals committed two residential burglaries in Warren and Bridgewater. Task force members continued to track the individuals’ vehicle as it traveled back up into Bergen County and stopped in a housing development in Englewood, where authorities observed an individual discard items into a dumpster that were later retrieved following execution of court authorized search warrants. Detectives positively confirmed that the discarded items were stolen from the Warren and Bridgewater burglaries.

Singletary, Erskine and Sermon then returned to their vehicle and proceeded to New York City, where they met up with their “fence,” Tadjiev, at his residence in Astoria.

Singletary and Erskine entered Tadjiev’s apartment with the stolen jewelry from the Warren and Bridgewater burglaries, while Sermon waited with the vehicle. Authorities then executed a court authorized search warrant on the residence and found stolen property from the Warren and Bridgewater burglaries, including a substantial amount jewelry.

Following the arrests and search warrants in New York, court authorized search warrants were executed at a number of locations in New Jersey, including the residences of the burglars, as well as the dumpster in Englewood.

During the execution of these search warrants, a loaded handgun containing hollow point bullets was recovered at Sermon’s residence, a substantial amount of suspected cocaine, packaged for distribution, was recovered at Singletary’s residence, and authorities recovered several items of jewelry from the Somerset County burglaries at the Englewood dumpster. Detectives also recovered a safe and other personal property and documents, which are believed to have been stolen during a previous residential burglary that is still under investigation.

Singletary, Erskine, Sermon and Tadjiev are currently in custody in Westchester County, New York, on fugitive from justice warrants and are pending extradition to New Jersey, according to Molinelli.

At this time, Tadjiev is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit theft, a 3rd degree crime. Singletary, Erskine and Sermon are charged with one count each of conspiracy to commit burglary, a 3rd degree crime.

Additional charges from Somerset County are pending against all four suspects and investigators believe that additional charges will be forthcoming as the investigation continues.