Mahwah police: Burglar went on spree with housekeeper’s key

Frank Hadley, 40, of Hillburn, is charged with four counts of burglary, two counts of theft and drug-related charges.

Hadley rented a room at the Super 8 Hotel a week ago and quickly went to work, Mahwah Police Chief James Batelli said this morning.

Batelli’s officers were called on Saturday by a 2^nd-floor hotel guest who said he was in town on business and found his suitcases unzipped, dresser drawers rifled and other items scattered around after briefly leaving his room.

The guest, who showed the officers pry marks on his locked briefcase, reported two watches stolen, the chief said.

Another resident on the same floor told police he was asleep and slow to get up when he heard a knock at the door. As he approached it, he said, someone on the other side was using a card key to get in.

The guest said he grabbed the door, then confronted a man later identified as Hadley, who :rambled about having satellite reception on the third floor,” Batelli said.

Interviewing hotel workers, police learned that a master key had been stolen from one of the housekeepers, the chief said.

Maintenance workers pointed them to Hadley, who they said they saw “attempting to use a card to enter a room other than the one he was staying in,” Batelli said.

Before long, officers learned that other rooms had been burglarized, he said.

In addition to the other charges, Hadley was charged with theft of the master key.

He has a first appearance scheduled in Mahwah Municipal Court tonight.

MUGSHOT: Courtesy MAHWAH PD

 

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