Hitchhikers Charged In $10K Oakland Burglary

A man and a teenager hitchhiking on Summit Avenue were arrested Wednesday after Franklin Lakes police found them in possession of $10,000 in stolen goods lifted from an Oakland home earlier in the day, cops said.

Jeffrey Smith, 22, and a 16-year-old male were reported hitchhiking along the Route 208 overpass before police caught up to them walking on the busy highway just north of of Ewing Avenue on Wednesday evening. 

Franklin Lakes Police Sgt. William Cook and Officer Mark McCombs stopped Smith, from Irvington, and the juvenile, from Lodi, and discovered that Smith had an outstanding warrant for a robbery out of the Passaic County Sheriff's Office.

Smith, who had been charged with second degree robbery, was free on $75,000 bail, but failed to appear for a status conference, according to Passaic County Sheriff spokesman Bill Maer. A judge revoked the bail and issued the warrant for his arrest, he said. 

Police arrested Smith without incident for the outstanding warrant and subsequently discovered that both he and the juvenile were in possession of about $10,000 worth of jewelry, cash, rare coins and two iPods that cops say were stolen from an Oakland home earlier that evening.

Borough police notified Oakland Police, who met with the owner of the Monhegan Avenue home from which they say the items were taken; the homeowner then positively identified the items belonging to he and his family, according to Oakland Police Lieutenant Christian Eldridge.

Police charged Smith with burglary, theft, employing a juvenile in the commission of a crime and receiving stolen property and sent him to Bergen County Jail in lieu of $50,000 bail.

The juvenile was released to his parents and will be charged with receiving stolen property; his case will be forwarded to the Bergen County Family Court. 

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