Police Blotter: $18,000 Stolen from Retired Priest

Burglary

A former staff member at Villa Vianney, the Diocese of Trenton’s home for retired priests, was arrested on Monday, Feb. 28, for allegedly stealing $18,000 from the checking account of one of the home’s residents, according to Lt. Charles Edgar, a Lawrence Township police spokesman.

The suspect, Kevin Myrthil, 26, of Sculptors Way in Hamilton, was charged with burglary, theft, theft by deception, forgery and wrongful impersonation, Edgar said.

Edgar said township police were called to Villa Vianney, located in the 2300 block of Lawrence Road (Route 206) adjacent to St. Lawrence Rehabilitation Center, at 3:27 p.m. by officials at the home who had been conducting their own internal investigation.

It is alleged, according to Edgar, that Myrthil entered the room of the 67-year-old victim and stole at least six checks from the retired priest’s checkbook. Over a period of time starting in November, Myrthil allegedly forged the victim’s signature and wrote the stolen checks as payable to himself – for a total of $18,000, Edgar said.

He said the investigation is continuing.

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DUI

Officer Chris DiMeglio was on patrol when he spotted a vehicle traveling ahead of him that was swerving in and out of its lane shortly before 1:15 a.m. on Monday, Feb. 28, according to Edgar.

DiMeglio stopped the vehicle in the area of Brunswick Pike (Business Route 1) and Darrah Lane. The driver, identified as Marco A. Davila, 38, of Nassau Street in Princeton Borough, “appeared to be intoxicated” while he was being interviewed by DiMeglio, Edgar said. He said Davila was arrested and his vehicle towed away after he allegedly failed a field sobriety test.

Davila was charged with driving under the influence, reckless driving and failing to maintain a lane, Edgar said.

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Vehicle Theft

The theft of a 2000 Honda Civic from Kent Court is currently being investigated by police.

The vehicle’s owner, a 23-year-old resident of Kent Court, told police he went out with a friend about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday. When his friend dropped him back home around 2:30 a.m. Wednesday, March 2, the man discovered that his Honda – which he had left parked in front of his home – was missing, Edgar said.

The stolen Honda is blue and has a New Jersey registration (license plate) number of ZMA59R. Officer Marc Caponi is leading the investigation.

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Shoplifting

Township police are working to identify and locate three people who stole $250 worth of clothing from the Carters store in the Mercer Mall about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 1. The trio walked around the store, picking out a large pile of clothes. Employees became suspicious and had the three set the pile of clothes on the checkout counter. Two of the three then left the store, while the third continued to “shop” for a few minutes. That third suspect then grabbed the pile of clothes, ran out the door, and joined the other two in a blue Honda that sped away, according to Edgar.

He said the suspects were described as a black female and two black males, both of whom had “a feminine voice and demeanor.” All three were said to be in their early 20s. The woman was about 5 feet 5 inches tall, 140 to 150 pounds, with black hair arranged in a ponytail and wearing an orange sweater. The first male was about 5 feet 5 inches tall, 130 to 140 pounds, wearing a blue sweatshirt and carrying a plum-colored leather bag. The second male about 5 feet 7 inches tall, 150 to 160 pounds, wearing a gray jogging suit, glasses and a New York Yankees cap.

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Fraud

A 65-year-old resident of Rydal Drive called police at 10:55 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 25, to report that someone had used her credit card to make $387 worth of fraudulent purchases at various locations in Lawrence and West Windsor. After learning of the purchases, the woman remembered she last used her credit card at the Staples store at Lawrence Shopping Center on Feb. 14 and realized she must have left her credit card behind in one of the store's copy machines, according to Edgar.

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Fraud

A 36-year-old woman from Astoria, N.Y., called police at 1:33 p.m. on Tuesday, March 1, to report that she had just learned that someone had gone to the Chase Bank branch in Mercer Mall pretending to be her and withdrew $3,900 from her bank account on Feb. 25. The thief, who presented a fake New York driver’s license as proof of identity, was described only as a black female, 25 to 30 years old.

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Criminal Mischief

At 12:15 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 25, Officer Chris Schuster was sent to investigate a report of criminal mischief in the 800 block of Spruce Street. He found that someone had spray-painted gang graffiti on a tree, according to Edgar.

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Thefts

Edgar said township police are investigating the following recent thefts.

• A 19-year-old Rider University student from Freehold called police at 1:56 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 25, to report that she had just discovered that her iPod and wallet were missing and she believed they were stolen from her book bag while she was in the Daly Dining Hall on the Rider campus in the 2000 block of Lawrence Road (Route 206) earlier in the day, Edgar said, noting that the woman realized the items had been stolen when she went to pull out her Exxon gas card to make a purchase but couldn’t find her wallet.
• A 23-year-old woman from Hamilton who is employed at the J.C. Penney department store in Quaker Bridge Mall notified police at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 26, that some jewelry belonging to her – a necklace and pendant valued at $250 – had been stolen sometime between Feb. 19 and 26. She had left the jewelry in an unsecured place in the store.
• An 82-year-old Trenton woman who also works at the J.C. Penney store in Quaker Bridge Mall called police about 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 1, to report that $120 was stolen from her wallet after she accidentally left the wallet sitting on the table in the store's employee lunchroom. Another employee spotted the wallet and returned it to the elderly woman, but not before someone had removed the cash from it.
• Another employee of J.C. Penney – a 21-year-old woman from Trenton – alerted police at 1:47 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 28, that someone had stolen her wallet from a cabinet while she was working in the store. The wallet contained about $50 in cash and a prepaid Visa card worth $50.
• A white male operating a blue Dodge Ram pickup truck drove away without paying after he received $63 worth of gas at the QuickChek at the Brunswick Circle about 9:30 a.m. on Monday, Feb. 28.
• A 61-year-old Trenton resident called police about 9:35 a.m. on Monday, Feb. 28, to allege that a mp3 player worth $65 was missing from his Hyundai Sonata after it went through the inspection line at the state Motor Vehicle Commission’s Bakers Basin inspection station on Brunswick Pike (Route 1).
• The theft of a cell phone from a 14-year-old student at Lawrence Middle School was reported to police at 2:39 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 28. The cell phone was found in the locker of another student but the investigation into how it got there is continuing.

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Shoplifting

Edgar said the following individuals were charged recently with shoplifting and provided these details of their arrests:

• Dontai L. Seigle, 21, of Frasier Street, Trenton, was arrested about 5:45 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 26, after he allegedly walked out of the Gymboree at Quaker Bridge Mall with some stolen clothes hidden in a large bag. He was pursued and stopped by mall security and police, at which time he was allegedly found to be in possession of a total of $650 worth of clothes stolen from Gymboree and other stores in the mall. He was also found with wire cutters he allegedly used to remove security sensors from the clothing. In addition to shoplifting, he was charged with receiving stolen property and possession of burglary tools. He was also found to be wanted in connection with eight outstanding warrants from other municipalities.
• Daniela Saravia, 18, of Hanford Place, Trenton, and Ileana Baeza, 19, of Revere Avenue, Trenton, were arrested about 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 1, after they allegedly went into a fitting room, concealed clothing in their shoulder bags and then walked out of the Macy’s department store at Quaker Bridge Mall without paying. Saravia allegedly had a $20 pair of sweatpants hidden in her bag, while Baeza allegedly had a sweater and jeans worth a total of $57 in her bag.
• A 17-year-old girl from Hamilton whose name was withheld because she is a juvenile was arrested about 6:05 p.m. on Tuesday, March 1, after she allegedly put $160 worth of costume jewelry in her jacket pocket and walked out of the J.C. Penney department store at Quaker Bridge Mall without paying. She was followed and stopped by store security guards.
• An employee of the Jo-Ann Fabrics store in Mercer Mall – Passion S. Davis, 19, of Anderson Street, Trenton – was charged with shoplifting after she allegedly allowed two women to leave the store with $183 worth of merchandise they did not pay for. The women brought 23 items worth a total of $209 to Davis’ cash register, where she allegedly “voided out” 15 of the items. The women ended up paying just $26 and left the store with all 23 items. Police are still working to identify the two women.

Anyone with information about any of the above crimes is asked to call Lawrence Township police at (609) 896-1111.

A copy of Lawrence Township's police dispatch log for Friday, Feb. 25, through Tuesday, March 1, 2011, can be downloaded from the PDF box above. This log lists all significant calls for service and incidents for which officers filed a written report. Routine administrative assignments are omitted. Some data has been redacted to protect the identity of crime victims.