Man Who Broke Into Secaucus Cars Just Released From Prison

SECAUCUS, NJ — A man who police say broke into cars in the North End of Secaucus last week had just been released from prison six months ago, where he served two years for burglary, according to a report.

Just before 1 a.m. last Tuesday, July 10, Christopher Murano, 45, of Mahwah was seen by a Secaucus police officer walking on a residential street in the North End of town. He was carrying a woman's purse and the officer stopped him because he said his behavior seemed suspicious.

Police said he had just burglarized two unlocked cars parked nearby, and that's where the woman's purse was from.

Murano was released from state prison this past January; he had served two years for separate burglaries in Bergen and Passaic counties, the South Passaic Daily Voice reported. He's been arrested almost every year for the past twenty years for crimes in Bergen and Hudson counties, the news outlet reported, including charges of aggravated assault with a weapon and selling drugs, plus a string of burglaries in 2007 in Dumont, Elmwood Park, Englewood Cliffs and Hackensack.

In 2011, Murano was found on the second floor of a home in Fair Lawn. The homeowner chased him down and held him until officers arrived.

When he was arrested this past Tuesday in Secaucus, he was also wanted on an outstanding $500 warrant from Paramus.

Photo of Murano via the NJ Dept. of Corrections.