Four Charged in Wyckoff, Franklin Lakes Burglaries

Cops arrested four individuals they say illegally entered at least two vehicles in Wyckoff and Franklin Lakes and made off with more than $1,000 worth of private property last week, authorities said. 

At approximately 1:30 a.m. on July 12, a Franklin Lakes resident called 911 after he spotted two males walking down his Woodmere Court driveway.

responding to the report stopped a vehicle on Summit Avenue in the vicinity of Woodmere Court, according to Franklin Lakes Police Lieutenant John Bakelaar.

Cops say they found a pair of Coach sunglasses from a car parked in the driveway at the Woodmere Court home and a stolen laptop taken from a car in Wyckoff.  

Franklin Lakes Police charged charged Ariel R. Figueroa, 22, of Wyckoff; Hector D. Jimenez, Jr., 20, and Ramon Robles, 28, both of Newark; and Jose L. Perez, 30, of Belleville with burglary into a motor vehicle, possession of burglary tools and several other crimes, Bakelaar said.

Cops also found an active warrant out of Newark for Perez.

The computer belonged to a resident on Cottage Road in Wyckoff, according to Police Chief Benjamin Fox.

Police contacted the owner of the laptop, who had not yet been aware of the theft; their 2012 Mercedes had been left unlocked in the driveway during the overnight hours. The $1,000 laptop and a $200 Mercedes Benz tote, which was not recovered, were stolen.

In addition to the charges out of Franklin Lakes, charged the four individuals with burglary and theft related to the township incident, Fox said.

The Cottage Road home where the theft of the laptop is believed to have taken place is less than a mile from the Wyckoff address that one of those arrested — 22-year-old Ariel Figueroa — listed to police as her home.

Police were continuing to investigate whether the individuals were involved in other recent thefts of property from unlocked vehicles while residents were asleep overnight, according to Fox.

Have a question or news tip? Contact editor Joseph M. Gerace at Joseph.Gerace@patch.com, or find us on Facebook and Twitter. For news straight to your inbox every morning, sign up for our daily newsletter.