Crime & Safety

Duo Caught Lifting Hundreds of Plastic Pharmacy Bins, Cops Say

The thefts are in line with a growing trend that police say has thieves cashing in on recycling the stolen bins.

A growing trend that police say has thieves stealing plastic bins from pharmacies has hit Wyckoff.

Jose M. Vazquez, 46, and Toyse Ali, 43, both of Paterson, were arrested in the township Saturday night after Patrolman Peter Goodman saw a Ryder rental truck pulling out of the Boulder Run Shopping Center with its back doors open, Chief Benjamin Fox announced in a release Monday afternoon.

As the truck pulled onto Godwin Avenue, cops saw plastic storage bins spilling out of the back of the truck onto the roadway, Fox said.

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After stopping the truck, police found about 300 of the storage bins from the CVS Pharmacy in the shopping center, and nearby Walgreens and Rite Aid pharmacies, in the back of the truck, the release said.

“The theft of these types of storage bins that are utilized by businesses have been escalating in the Bergen County area,” Fox said in the release. “They are then brought to recycling centers and sold for plastic recycling.”

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Vasquez is allegedly no stranger to the growing crime trend. Police say he has been arrested twice in the last two months on similar theft charges – on June 9 in Westwood and August 2 in Bogota.

Bail was set at $5,000 for Vasquez and $2,500 for Ali. Both were remanded to the Bergen County Jail in lieu of bail.


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