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Cosmo Pena was released from the Essex County Jail on Thursday, Jan. 4, to the custody of Wood-Ridge police, who'd tied him to the theft of a resident's Mercedes during a home burglary last summer.
Pena -- who has racked up recent arrests for offenses including theft, conspiracy, resisting arrest and leading a police chase -- had been held in Essex County the past few weeks.
Wood-Ridge detectives during that time were nailing down their case against him.
It began with the theft of a 2021 Mercedes Benz GLE from a Madison Street residence on Aug. 11, 2023, Capt. Joseph Biamonte said.
Sgt. Robert Jones and Officers Timothy Janz and Andrew Tomat had gone to the home late that night to return a wallet found in the street by a pedestrian, the captain said.
They discovered two front windows and the front door left open, he said.
The residents, who'd been upstairs sleeping, found their wallets and key fob missing from the kitchen while speaking with the officers, Biamonte said.
The Bergen County Sheriff's Bureau of Criminal Identification collected evidence while Detective Sgt. Matthew Mueller and Detective David Marchitelli took down information and canvassed the neighborhood for security video.
Pena had arrived in a 2021 Dodge Durango that had been stolen from a residence in Howard Beach, Queens, and driven to Wood-Ridge, Biamonte said. The Mercedes GLE SUV coupe -- with a list price that starts at $73,000 -- was then taken.
Biamonte cited the assistance of the Newark Police Auto Task Force, the NYPD Highway Patrol Unit and the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office in making the case against Pena.
He remained held in the county lockup on Friday, charged with receiving stolen property, burglary conspiracy and conspiracy to commit theft.
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