Wallington Police Officer Nabs Package Thief, Authorities Say

WALLINGTON, N.J. -- A keen-eyed Wallington police officer nabbed a package thief who stole nearly $2,000 of valuables from a resident's porch, authorities said.

Jerry DeMarco

11/01/2017 1:56 p.m.

Officer Nick Melfi was on patrol on Tuesday when he spotted Jonathan Diaz-Santana, 20, of Passaic riding a bicycle on Wallington Avenue.

Four weeks earlier, Melfi responded to a Locust Avenue home where a black Samsung Galaxy 8 phone valued at $950 and a candy mix and assortment of children's toys valued at nearly $1,000 were stolen from an enclosed porch, Detective Capt. Shawn Kudlacik said.

The homeowner's surveillance cameras showed a man wearing a New York Yankees jacket, red pants and snap-back hat on a bicycle going into the porch, Kudlacik said.

Diaz apparently didn't speak English, so Wallington police called their Passaic colleagues, who confirmed his identity, the lieutenant said.

Diaz was charged with burglary and theft and released pending a Nov. 13 detention hearing in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack.

The bicycle -- which was used during the burglary -- was impounded, he said.

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