South Brunswick Police: Alert Neighbor Helps Police Nab Two Men Charged With Burglary

It was just an SUV, parked in a South Brunswick driveway, with its hood up.

Yet, that SUV was the key to police catching two men who they say burglarized a township home, authorities said.

According to a news release from Lt. James Ryan:

On Monday morning, a neighbor passed by a Georges Road home and noticed something amiss. There was an SUV parked in the driveway of one of the homes, and the vehicle’s hood was up.

That neighbor knew the resident was not home, so the neighbor called the homeowner to see if she was having any work done at her house.

She wasn’t, and she called police.

Officer Martin Halmi arrived at the house within three minutes.

As he walked up the driveway he saw a man standing near the SUV. He started to question him, when he saw another man walk out of the back door, holding a jar full of change.

The two men, William Reed, 42, of Old Bridge and Darryl Naughton, 28, of the Whiting section of Manchester, were arrested.

Both men were charged with burglary, theft, and criminal mischief. Both were sent to the Middlesex County Adult Correction Center in North Brunswick, with bail set at $50,000 each.

Police determined the pair had been driving around the neighborhood, looking for homes to burglarize. One of the men had previously worked in the township, so he was familiar with the area.

The pair pulled into that driveway, and pretended to work on a “disabled” SUV. One man stayed with the vehicle, while the other went to the back of the house, broke a window, and went inside.

Police believe they had been at the house for less than ten minutes before they were taken into custody.

Police seized the SUV, searched it, and recovered tools. Now detectives are trying to determine if the men are connected to any other crimes in the area.

“This is just the latest example of how our policing partnership with the community works so well,’’ Chief Raymond Hayducka said in a prepared statement. “Time and time again it is our residents and community members being actively involved that stops crime. In this case it was a neighbor who cared to get involved followed by a quick response by police that stopped these suspects. I thank the resident for making the call and recognize Officer Halmi for his quick actions to catch these suspects.”

Photo courtesy South Brunswick police; William Reed, Darryl Naughton