New Jersey

New Jersey Burglar Arrested After Being Caught by the Homeowner on Video Surveillance System: Police

A burglar was arrested in New Jersey on Wednesday after the homeowner, who was vacationing in Miami at the time, caught him on his home surveillance system, the homeowner and police say. 

Fair Lawn Police arrested 31-year-old Junior Perales in the home's front yard after receiving a call from the homeowner, Verej Nazarian.

Nazarian watched on his home surveillance system as the burglar broke into his home. 

"I was talking to my mother, I was looking at my phone and it said, 'Alert, there's motion in your backyard,'" said Nazarian. 

On the live feed was a familiar figure: it appeared to be the same burglar captured on video a week earlier, when he broke into a shed and walked away with a bike, a chainsaw and an extension cord. 

"I couldn't believe he had the audacity to come again, not like a week but two days later," said Nazarian.

Nazarian described the feeling of watching the crime in progress: "I was shivering, shaking, my adrenaline was pumping. I couldn't do anything. I'm 1,200 miles away."  

He called police. When officers arrived, Perales was coming to the front of the yard, and they were able to arrest him, said Fair Lawn Police Sgt. Brian Metzler. 

According to authorities, the bicycle that Perales rode to get there was also reported stolen from a separate residence earlier this month.

Perales is being charged with burglary, theft, trespassing, possession of burglary tools and receiving stolen property.

The suspect is also being investigated for other burglaries around the community. Anyone with information should contact Detective Mark Wyka at 201-794-5410.

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