Heartless: 19 Catalytic Converters Swiped From Vehicles Serving Bergen Seniors, Disabled, More

A pair of heartless thieves from Pennsylvania stole 19 catalytic converters from a lot off Route 17 packed with vehicles used to help seniors, the disabled and frail Bergen County residents get around, authorities said.

Noe Gabriel Hernandez
Photo Credit: *GoogleMaps Street View / INSET: BCJ*

Jerry DeMarco

06/27/2023 12:36 p.m.

Detectives grabbed one of them – identified as Noe Gabriel Hernandez, 24, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said.

The other, Juan Rosario, 25, was being sought, he said on Tuesday, June 27.

The unemployed thieves swiped 17 of the devices from county-owned vehicles parked in the Division of Community Transportation lot on Essex Street in Lodi on March 20, the prosecutor said.

A second burglary, on May 1, netted two more converters, he said.

Detectives from the prosecutor’s Special Investigations Squad worked with their colleagues from the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office to identify both men, Musella said.

Hernandez was seized on Friday, June 23, and charged with multiple counts of burglary, theft and criminal mischief.

Investigators sent Hernandez to the Bergen County Jail, only to have a judge in Hackensack release him the next day under New Jersey’s bail reform law.

A judge approved an arrest warrant charging Rosario with the same crimes, Musella said.

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