Maplewood Cops Arrest S.O. Juvenile for Bike Theft

On Wednesday, July 22, a witness to a bicycle theft on Ridgewood Road in Maplewood alerted police. This was no passive witness, though: as he made the call to the cops, he was reportedly driving his car, following the thief. Two officers stopped the suspect, a 15-year-old South Orange resident, at Maplewood's Memorial Park. Police charged the South Orange youth with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, eluding police and criminal mischief. Police investigating the incident also linked the suspect to a previous robbery incident in Millburn in which a cell phone and a bicycle were taken by a group of juveniles. The 15-year-old was later released to his parents. 

In related news, Maplewood police linked the theft of another bicycle to a Newark man, who had been arrested for outstanding warrants in South Orange. On Tuesday, July 21, a resident of Oakland Road in Maplewood told police her garage had been broken into and that a mountain bike, customized with an attached child seat, was stolen. The theft, the woman reportedly told police, occurred between July 2 and July 21.

A couple of days beforehand, on July 18, South Orange police arrested 18-year-old Newark resident Emanuel Holiday for outstanding warrants. Holiday, police say, had a bike that was similar to the one stolen from the Oakland Road garage. The bike’s owner reportedly identified it, and Holiday was charged with burglary and theft.