Serial Bergen Gas Station Burglar Arrested: Prosecutor

A serial Bergen County gas station burglar was arrested after a monthlong investigation by local and county authorities, acting Bergen County Prosecutor Dennis Calo announced Thursday.

Yourghi Turkmany, 20, of Newark, was arrested and charged with nine counts each of burglary and theft for robbing gas stations from July 10 to Aug. 18, Calo said.

The Bergen County Prosecutor's Office Special Investigations Squad identified a pattern of gas station burglaries where large amounts of cash and cigarettes were stolen, Calo said.

Detectives from the towns where the burglaries occurred met at the prosecutor's office to discuss the cases.

After looking through databases, interviewing witnesses, and reviewing surveillance footage, Turkmany was identified as a suspect, Calo said.

A BP gas station in Washington Township was burglarized Aug. 18 and Turkmany was identified as a suspect in that burglary too, the acting prosecutor said.

Turkmany was arrested at his Newark apartment Tuesday. He was charged with burglary and theft related to the following burglaries:

• Piscataway, July 10
• Middlesex, July 11
• Franklin Lakes, July 21
• Montvale, Aug. 1
• Ridgewood, Aug. 1
• Oradell, Aug. 4
• New Milford, Aug. 4
• Ramsey, Aug. 10
• Washington Township, Aug. 10

Turkmany was remanded to the Bergen County Jail pending a detention hearing Friday morning.

Email: daniel.hubbard@patch.com

Photo: Yourghi Turkmany, 20, of Newark (Bergen County Prosecutor's Office)