Officers responding to a call of a man testing door handles in the 500 block of Grove Street just before 6 a.m. Monday found 34-year-old Patrick Slaughter carrying latex gloves and several apparently stolen items, Detective Sgt. Robert Anderson said.
Slaughter “was deceptive in his answers to basic questions and provided false information to the officers,” who nonetheless identified him, Anderson said.
Slaughter is known to police in several New Jersey counties.
His criminal history spans all 16 of his adult years -- including no fewer than a half-dozen arrests last year -- records show.
Despite that history, judges over the past two years have ordered his release pending trial on charges that include assault, robbery, burglary and resisting arrest, under New Jersey's 2017 bail reform law.
Clifton police took Slaughter into custody after finding an outstanding warrant from East Orange, the sergeant said. He remained held on the warrant early Monday.
“The investigation is ongoing and detectives are working to determine if he is connected to any recent incidents in the area,” Anderson said.
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