Three Charged with Snatching Phone from Maplewood Teen

Three Union men were arrested and charged with stealing a cellphone from a Maplewood teenager, and one of the men is also believed to be responsible for stealing headphones from a teen a week earlier, said Capt. John Perna of the Maplewood Police Department.

Ryan Casimir, 18, Roulston Lajeunesse, 18, and Cleefton Paulzin, 19, all of Union, were each charged with robbery and conspiracy, Perna said.

The Maplewood teenager was walking on Wellesley Street at 5 p.m. May 14 when a silver car with the three Union men pulled up next to him, Perna said. One of the accused robbers asked directions and requested to borrow the teen's cellphone, the captain said. When the Maplewood teen came closer, one of the men grabbed his arm and took the cell phone from his hand, Perna said.

Maplewood police put out an alert to surrounding towns after the robbery was reported, and the Union Police Department found a car matching the teen's description, Perna said. Casimir, Lajeunesse and Paulzin were found inside, and all three men were arrested.

Perna said Maplewood police believe one of the men was involved in a May 8 incident where three men in a light-colored car stole headphones from a 16-year-old boy walking near the intersection of Summit and Plymouth avenues.

"There is a connection," said Perna, who said charges have not yet been filed but are likely forthcoming in the earlier incident.