Crime & Safety

Resident Helps Thwart One Burglary, Solve a Second

A wary neighbor and police officers' quick response time leads to the arrest of a Roselle man.

The watchful eyes of a Scotch Plains resident helped township police officers arrest a Roselle man mere hours after he completed one burglary, and apparently just minutes before he tried to commit another. 

At about 12 p.m. Wednesday, a Hetfield Avenue resident called police and reported that an individual was standing in her neighbor's yard peering through a window, according to a press release distributed by the police department. Officers Gerard Rites and Matthew Mahoney and Detective Mark Lynch arrived on scene in seconds and stopped Craig Fletcher, 37, of Roselle. 

The officers searched Fletcher and reportedly discovered several thousand dollars-worth of jewelry in his possession – items that had been reported stolen from an Elizabeth Avenue home between 9 a.m. and noon that morning, the press release stated. Fletcher allegedly entered the Elizabeth Avenue residence by climbing through an unlocked rear window.

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The officers arrested Fletcher and charged him with burglary and theft. As of Thursday evening, he was being held at the Union County Jail on $70,000 bail. He will next appear in Union County Court in Elizabeth on July 7. The investigation remains ongoing.


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