Wood-Ridge police detective work cracks area burglaries

ANOTHER CVP SCOOP: Legwork and a handy break helped Wood-Ridge police crack a series of borough, Carlstadt and East Rutherford burglaries with the arrests of two men.
A neighbor supplied a surveillance video that showed the vehicle used in the Oct. 1 break-in on Center Street. It came back owned by a Union City woman, Police Chief Joseph Rutigliano told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.

Photo Credit: *Cliffview Pilot File Photo*

Jerry DeMarco

12/19/2012 5:04 a.m.

A few weeks later, Detective Joe Rutigliano pulled the car over for several motor vehicle violations, the chief said.

Inside were three men — two of whom fit the descriptions of suspects witnesses said they saw at burglaries in Carlstadt and East Rutherford, he said.

Adrian Rodriguez (above, left), 39, who had been using the car since moving to Carlstadt from Union City, was arrested on heroin possession charges.

The two others, 35-year-old Marino Ortiz (above, right) and Antonio Misel, 44, both of Union City, were charged with possession of hypodermic needles.

While in custody, Adrian Rodriguez confessed to being the wheelman in the Oct. 1 break-in, the chief told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.

What’s more, he identified Ortiz as the burglar, Rutigliano said.

Ortiz was being held on $10,000 bail in the Bergen County Jail, charged with burglary and theft.

Rodriguez, meanwhile, was released without bail pending a court hearing on charges of conspiracy to commit burglary and theft.

Rutigliano thanked Carlstadt police for their assistance in identifying Rodriguez.

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