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Officers responding to a burglar alarm at Morre Lyons Jewelers in the Richfield Shopping Center around 2:30 a.m. last Nov. 24 saw Iver Vera-Miranda of Clifton emerge from behind the store and then duck back inside, Detective Lt. Robert Bracken said on Friday, Jan. 5.
Vera-Miranda, 30, had worked a Fuel 4 in Fair Lawn before he and another man were charged with swiping $11,000 from the station's safe last June. He was still awaiting trial when the Clifton jewelry store was broken into the morning after Thanksgiving.
Police in neighboring towns helped their Clifton colleagues establish a perimeter while the entire shopping center was searched store by store, Bracken said.
Vera-Miranda was found hiding under a pile of boxes in the basement of one of the businesses several hours later, the lieutenant said.
He was charged with burglary, criminal mischief and possession of a knife, saw and a crowbar.
All $93,000 worth of the stolen jewelry was recovered, Bracken noted.
The investigation didn't end there, however.
Detectives suspected an accomplice and eventually identified Juana Miranda of Paterson as the getaway driver, the lieutenant said.
A Clifton police officer nabbed Miranda on Linda Court in Clifton Thursday night, Jan. 4. She was charged with the same offenses as her son and sent to the Passaic County Jail, Bracken said.
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