44°
"I love you. Goodbye," Ionela-Ramona Simileanu told Robert P. Nuta by phone after Montvale police seized her fellow Romanian national at the Apple store at Tice’s Corner on April 1.
Simileanu, 31, was waiting in a getaway car outside but sped off when police arrived, Montvale Police Chief Douglas McDowell said.
The couple had been traveling up the East Coast, living in hotels and committing crimes for money, the chief said.
They essentially had all of their belongings with them when they made what they apparently expected would be a quick stop before continuing on that day, he said.
Then things changed.
Nuta pickpocketed a late-70-something man outside Wegman's, taking the victim's cellphone and a wallet that held $100 in cash, credit cards and a Social Security card, McDowell said.
Nuta and Simileanu "piggybacked" at the Apple store, with her fraudulently purchasing a $3,700 laptop while he waited outside, he said.
He then headed into the store as she left, the chief said.
A security camera at Wegman's caught images of the two moments later, he said.
Acting on a hunch, Officer Matt Zagaja headed straight to the Apple store -- and spotted Nuta inside, the chief said.
The officer grabbed him before he could go anywhere.
Simileanu quickly drove away in the Jeep Cherokee that they had parked nearby, McDowell said.
Nuta tried calling Simileanu after he was arrested.
Her reply: "I love you -- goodbye."
SEE: 'I Love You, Goodbye': Romanian Traveler Caught, GF Gone After Pickpocketing Bust: Montvale PD
Saddle River police found the Jeep abandoned on a local road sometime later. Nuta had the key fob in his pocket, police said.
The victim's wallet was recovered from a trash can and returned to him with everything inside but his Social Security card, they said.
Nuta, also 31, was already a fugitive wanted out of Westchester and both Martin and Brevard counties in Florida.
He was sent to the Bergen County Jail before being picked up by ICE agents to be brought before a federal immigration judge in Newark for a deportation hearing, records show.
Montvale detectives, meanwhile, obtained a search warrant for the Jeep.
They found, among other items, a Tiffany bracelet, an RH Macy & Co. necklace, a MacBook, two Romanian passports, two Washington State driver’s licenses with the names missing, two iPhones, assorted bank cards, $5,000 in Best Buy cards and a Louis Vuitton wallet.
Total value: $27,616
Simileanu was entered into the National Crime Information Center database as a fugitive charged with conspiracy to commit theft, credit card fraud and ID theft.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Ridgewood and receive free news updates.
