Crime & Safety

4 Men Apprehended During Attempted Break-In In South Brunswick: PD

A local business owner was watching the incident live on camera and giving officers a play-by-play of the men's actions, police said.

(Renee Schiavone/Patch)

SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ — Four men were apprehended by the police while attempting to break into a shipping container in the parking lot of a business located on Deans Rhode Hall Road, South Brunswick Police said Wednesday.

Rolando Espinosa Cardenas, 50, of North Bergen; Pedro Hernandez-Santana, 22, of Union; Joshua Morales, 21, of Newark and Janier Poueriet, 22, of Newark were charged with burglary, possession of burglary tools, attempted theft, and criminal mischief

On May 4, at 9:30 p.m., police received a call from a local business owner who said that four people were attempting to break into a shipping container. The caller said that he was watching the burglary live on camera and gave responding officers a description of the men involved, along with a play-by-play of their locations and actions.

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On arrival, Ptl. Martin Halmi, PFC Bafti Salihi, and Ptl. Brian Kim, set up a perimeter around a retention basin, where the men had last been seen, authorities said. They were then joined by two additional officers - Ptl. Craig Cleffi and Ptl. Tyler Harpster.

The officers then entered the area and checked the retention basin, where Cleffi found the four men. Cleffi climbed down into the basin and searched the men before assisting them out of the retention basin, authorities said.

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Chief of Police Raymond J. Hayducka praised the collaborative effort between the business owner and the officers.

"The business owner noticed suspicious activity and relayed that information in real-time to our officers on the scene to come to a successful resolution,” Hayducka said.

“I commend everyone involved in catching these suspects in the act."

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