Wyckoff Police said they used state police records to connect a Wyckoff man already in Bergen County Jail with the 2011 theft of a jeep from a Harvey Court home.

The break in the year-old case came from persistent investigation by the Wyckoff Police Department. 

On Sept. 5, 2011, a Harvey Court resident returned home after several days away and reported to police that his 1994 Jeep Wrangler had been stolen sometime between Sept. 1 and Sept. 5.

Police conducted an "extensive investigation" of the theft of the motor vehicle but turned up nothing until last month.  

Detective Sgt. Joseph Soto working in cooperation with the New Jersey State Police used state officials' computer records to find that the Jeep had been stopped by the State Police on Route 80 for careless driving on Sept. 3, 2011, two days before the vehicle was reported stolen.

Records and video evidence showed that the driver of the vehicle was Daniel Chaupiz, a 20-year-old Crescent Avenue resident, according to Wyckoff Police.

The vehicle was recovered some time later after it was found abandoned in Sussex County, Wyckoff Police Chief Benjamin Fox said.

Soto made the arrest on Aug. 29, according to Fox.

Chaupiz was charged by state police with possession of stolen property. He was served with the complaint while in jail for his alleged involvement in the savage beating of a 19-year-old Ridgewood man in July.

Chief Fox thanked the New Jersey State Police for their assistance in this investigation, and praised the efforts of Sgt. Soto for his tenacity in pursuing this investigation until solved. 

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