Released under New Jersey's bail reform law, 32-year-old Anthony Burks was stopped by city detectives Thursday afternoon on Lodi Street, Capt. Peter Busciglio said.
“I took it from a gas station last night,” Busciglio said Burks told them.
The car was, in fact, taken from a gas station in neighboring Little Ferry around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, the captain said.
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Burks "gave a formal statement in which he admitted that he had entered and slept in the vehicle," he said.
He then drove to Paterson where he purchased marijuana and eventually made his way back to Hackensack, Busciglio said.
Burks, who was charged with theft and receiving stolen property and issued traffic summonses, had recently been living at the homeless shelter in Hackensack.
Police arrested him on March 20 after Officer C. Lara-Nunez found a pair of Hackensack Municipal Court summonses between the seats of a car he'd just burglarized, Busciglio said.
A judge released Burks following a detention hearing two days later.
SEE: Hackensack PD: Homeless Offender Leaves Court Summonses In Burglarized Car
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