Police Blotter: Lucky 7 Burglarized, Credit Fraud Foiled

Burglary

Lawrence Township police are investigating a burglary that took place at the Lucky 7 delicatessen, located at the corner of Route 206 (Lawrence Road) and Princeton Avenue, in the early hours of Wednesday, May 9, police department spokesman Lt. Charles Edgar said.

Officers, responding to a burglar alarm system activation that was reported at 2:11 a.m., arrived to find that someone had smashed out the glass of the deli’s front door and had stolen an undetermined amount of cigarettes, cigars and cash, he said.

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Fraud

Tiffany C. Goodson, 35, from Brooklyn, N.Y., was arrested shortly before 4 p.m. on Wednesday, May 2, and charged by Officer Richard Laird III with theft by deception, forgery, wrongful impersonation, fraudulent use of a credit card, and exhibiting a fake driver’s license, according to Edgar.

He said Goodson allegedly tried to use a fake credit card and fake driver’s license to open up a credit account at the H.H. Gregg electronics store at Mercer Mall in the 3300 block of Brunswick Pike (Route 1). He said she wanted to start the account to purchase a Samsung television worth $3,200 and a Bose surround sound system worth $2,500.

Store employees became suspicious and called police, who caught up with Goodson while she was still in the store, Edgar said. He said she was arrested after police confirmed the documents she had presented to store employees to verify her identity as part of credit application process were fraudulent.

After uncovering Goodson’s true identity, police learned she was wanted in connection with an outstanding warrant for $685 from Woodbridge Township, according to Edgar.

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Driving Under the Influence

Janet L. Woods, 62, of Brookline Court, Montgomery Township, was arrested about 9:25 p.m. on Saturday, April 28, and charged with driving under the influence, DUI in a school zone, reckless driving, careless driving and failure to maintain a lane after Officer Erini Papafilipakis saw the 2010 Mini Cooper Woods was driving run off the road on Province Line Road near Buckingham Drive, according to Edgar.

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Driving Under the Influence

Kseniya Talakh, 27, of Brooklyn, N.Y., was arrested about 11:10 p.m. Thursday, April 26, and charged with driving under the influence, reckless driving, failure to produce a driver’s license, driving while her license was suspended and failure to maintain a lane, Edgar said. He said Officer Chris DiMeglio stopped the 2002 Mazda that Talakh was driving on Route 1 after another motorist called police to complain about an “erratic driver” in the area and provided police with a description of a vehicle that matched Talakh’s Mazda.

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Theft/Robbery

Police are working to identify a man who allegedly stole $51 in gasoline from the Sunoco service station in the 1700 block of Brunswick Pike (Business Route 1) shortly before 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 29. The man, described as being between 25 and 28 years old, drove off without paying after having his vehicle refueled, Edgar said.

He said the gas station attendant attempted to stop the man from leaving by reaching into the vehicle. In doing so, he said, the attendant was knocked to the ground and suffered minor injuries. As a result of those injuries, by law, the theft of the gasoline was elevated to the level of a robbery, he said.

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Vehicle Theft

At 9:33 a.m. on Sunday, April 29, a 27-year-old man from Trenton called police to report that his vehicle, a 2002 Hyundai Santa Fe, had been stolen from the parking lot of the Red Roof Inn in the 3200 block of Brunswick Pike (Business Route 1), Edgar said. He said the man told police he had been staying in a room at the motel with a male acquaintance but when he awoke he found that his keys and vehicle were missing and the other man was gone.

The Hyundai was recovered from Wood Street in Trenton on May 1 after the 27-year-old received a phone call from the acquaintance telling him where he could find the vehicle, Edgar said.

It was the second unusual motor vehicle theft in the township in four days. On April 26, a 46-year-old resident of Fieldcrest Court , explaining that she had “loaned” it to a 50-year-old male friend but that he had failed to return it and she had neither seen nor heard from him.

Edgar said the Ranger Rover was also returned to its owner after it was located on May 1 in Ewing Township.

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Arson

Police are investigating an arson that took place shortly before noon on Monday, May 7, on the grounds of the abandoned Saturn Chemical Co. in the 1600 block of New York Avenue, Edgar said. Police officers and firefighters who responded to what was initially reported as a brush fire arrived to find that what was actually on fire were several rolls of old carpet that had been illegally dumped on the property, he said. The blaze was quickly extinguished.

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Simple Assault

Officer Robert Wagner was dispatched to Lawrence Middle School at 2:28 p.m. on Tuesday, May 8, after a 13-year-old male student alleged that he had been hit in the face by another 13-year-old male student, Edgar said, noting that the alleged victim was not injured. The two boys, he said, had reportedly been involved in an ongoing dispute with each other over the course of the last month. He said the incident remains under investigation by police.

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Criminal Mischief

At 4:53 p.m. on Saturday, April 28, a 19-year-old man from Langhorne, Pa., notified police that someone had stolen the driver’s side mirror and smashed out covers for the headlights and taillights on his 2000 Honda Civic sometime during the previous 24 hours while the vehicle was parked near the Daly dining hall on the Rider University campus, Edgar said. He said the man was on campus visiting his girlfriend, who is a student.

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Theft

Staff at Advanced Urgent Care in the 100 block of Lawrence Road (Route 206) notified police at 9:37 a.m. on Saturday, April 28, that a pad of blank medical prescriptions had been stolen sometime during the last month, Edgar said.

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Criminal Mischief

Officer Hector Nieves responded to the Eggerts Crossing Village apartment complex in the 100 block of Johnson Avenue after residents of Building 2 called police at 11:09 a.m. on Monday, April 30, to report that someone had thrown a rock through one of the windows of their apartment within the last few minutes, Edgar said. Damage was estimated at $200.

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Theft

At 11:54 a.m. on Monday, April 30, a 33-uyear-old woman reported that her military identification card had been stolen from her room at the Red Roof Inn on Route 1, Edgar said. Officer Andrew Lee was assigned to investigate.

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Theft

Management of Café Domenico’s in the 2700 block of Brunswick Pike (Business Route 1) called police at 1:03 p.m. on Tuesday, May 1, to report that sometime between that morning and April 20 someone stole a container of waste cooking oil from the rear of the restaurant, Edgar said. He said the oil was valued at $120 and the container it was in was worth $200. It was the second theft of waste oil from Café Domenico’s in the last few months. Officer Robert Wagner is investigating.

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Theft

At 5:05 p.m. on Tuesday, May 1, a 26-year-old woman reported to police that her wallet – containing a cell phone, gift cards and credit cards – was stolen while she was shopping at the Victoria’s Secret store at Quaker Bridge Mall on Route 1, Edgar said. He said the woman told police she set her purse down for a moment sometime between 4:30 and 5 p.m. and later realized her wallet had been taken.

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Shoplifting

Fourteen bottles of perfume were stolen from the Victoria’s Secret store at Quaker Bridge Mall sometime between 6 p.m. and 6:50 p.m. on Tuesday, May 8, Edgar said. He said the stolen perfume was worth a total of $714.

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Theft

A 53-year-old resident of a group home in the 700 block of President Avenue called police at 12:10 p.m. on Wednesday, May 2, to allege that $130 had been stolen from his unlocked bedroom, Edgar said.

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Theft

A 25-year-old female resident of the 100 block of Franklin Corner Road called police at 8:42 a.m. on Thursday, May 3, to report that $311 was missing from her apartment and that it may have been taken by a male acquaintance who had stayed overnight but had left earlier that morning, Edgar said. Officer Marc Caponi is investigating.

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Theft

At 8:35 p.m. on Thursday, May 3, an 18-year-old woman from Pennington reported to police that her wallet had been stolen from her purse while she was shopping in the Old Navy store at Quaker Bridge Mall, Edgar said. He said the woman told police she had briefly set her purse down, and did not realize that her wallet – containing $20 in cash, a debit card and her driver’s license – had been stolen until she went to pay for some merchandise she had selected.

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Disorderly Person

Fredy Emanuel Yoc, 27, of Myrtle Avenue in Lawrence, was arrested in the early hours of Friday, May 4, and charged with improper behavior and resisting arrest, Edgar said.

He said police received a complaint at 2:24 a.m. about loud music coming from a car parked on Myrtle Avenue in which a man appeared to be sleeping. Officers arrived to find Yoc in the locked car, seemingly asleep, with the car’s stereo blaring, he said.

After several attempts, officers managed to wake Yoc up, Edgar said. At first, he said, Yoc refused to open his door to talk to the officers. The commotion caused several neighborhood residents to awake and look outside to see what was happening, he said.

“After numerous commands, he finally opened the door,” Edgar said, adding that officers turned off the stereo. After being told he was under arrest for improper behavior, he said, Yoc allegedly struggled with officers before he was subdued.   

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 Thursday, April 26, through Tuesday, May 8, 2012, can be viewed 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.

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