Police Blotter: Home Burglary and Other Crimes

Editor's Note: The following information is provided by the Millburn Police Department and may not be a comprehesive list of all crimes that have occurred in the township.

HOME BURGLARY: A home on Merrywood Lane was broken into on Saturday, setting off the burglar alarm at 9:30 p.m. and sending police to home within minutes to find no one home, no suspects in the house. After the residents returned and looked through the home, they determinied nothing missing was from the home.

But the back French doors were pried opened and damaged in the process of the of the break-in, police report.

DWI - A township resident following a vehicle being driven erratically on Brookside drived called the Millburn Police Department shortly before 2 a.m. on May 26 and said the car had run red lights, had crossed over the center line several times and possibly stuck a guard rail near Glen Avenue.

Police caught up with the vehicle and pull the driver over on Morris Turnpike near Farley Place.

According to police, the driver, Jordi Pineda, first denied drinking and later admitted to drinking a few glasses of wine. Police said Pineda failed several field sobriety tests and was charged with driving while intoxicated.

TRAFFIC STOP -- A patrol officer parked at the intersection of Millburn and Short Hills avenues observed a 16-year-old running and jumping down Short Hills Avenue and talking loudly on a cell phone around 2:40 a.m. May 26, telling someone to pick him up.

According to the officer's report, a mini-van pulled up on Millburn Avenue, the boy got in and the driver then made an illegal right turn onto Short Hills Avenue and van's middle brake light was out so the officer pulled the driver over.

During the stop, the officer reported that he smelled the odor of “burnt marijuana” and thought he saw a "haze of smoke" inside the van.  The driver let him search the vehicle, but he did not find any marijuana.

The driver, Juvens Exantus, was driving suspended license and had an outstanding warrant from Millburn Municipal Court. A passenger, Tabitha Diaz, also had a suspended license and an outstanding warrant from South Orange. Police took Exantus and Diaz to headquarters and drove the 16-year-old home. Diaz was released on her own recognizance and Exantus -- charged with traffic offense such as making an illegal turn, having a broken tail light and driving with a suspended license and released to the custody of his father.

Editor's note: Despite requests by Patch, police did not release the towns or ages of those arrested in the DWI and the traffic stop reports.

THEFT -- A woman reported that while she was at The Apple store at The Mall at Short Hills, someone took her wallet from her bag around 4:43 p.m. May 26.

According to police, the surveillance camera video did not show any possible suspects within reach of her wallet while she was at the store. The woman said she lost several credit cards, which she was advised to cancel, a driver's license and $200.

CRIMINAL MISCHIEF -- A Rosedale Avenue resident reported that sometime between 9 p.m. May 24 and 1 p.m. May 25 someone threw meat and what appeared to be oatmeal on a vehicle, driven by her teenager and parked in her driveway. The resident told police a similar incident occurred two or three months ago to the same vehicle.

CRIMINAL MISCHIEF - Someone tipped over port-a-john at a Harvey Drive residence where the home is under construction. The owner told police he had  no problems with neighbors or contractors, leading police to speculate it could be the doing of a group of juveniles.

VEHICLE BREAK-IN – On May 28, a Great Oak Drive homeowner reported that she discovered the right rear passenger door to her SUV was open and some items were strewn about the interior, but nothing appeared to be missing. The vehicle was unlocked overnight, the woman told police.