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Dugleidy Gonzalez-Riera, 28; Yefferson Prieto-Galviz, 23; and Morelis Blanco-Cineros, 41; all of the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City, were being held in the Passaic County Jail on various theft and drug charges, Wayne Detective Capt. Dan Daly said.
Trouble began around 3:35 p.m. last Valentine's Day when Wayne Officers Harrison Kirby and David Talerico saw the Toyota sedan following another vehicle too closely, and an unbelted occupant inside, Daly said.
The officers stopped the Toyota, and quickly found none of the occupants were able to speak English, and nor were any of them able to produce any driving credentials, Daly said. The license plate on the vehicle belonged to a different car, the captain added.
Officer Beltran responded as backup, as did a William Paterson University to translate.
Police spotted drug paraphernalia along with multiple articles of clothing and perfume with store tags still attached in the car, Daly said. They recognized those items were from the Ulta Beauty store, which has been frequently targeted for theft.
Beltran contacted Ulta Beauty and an employee confirmed that items matching those in the vehicle had been stolen from the store within the last two hours.
"The store was able to provide images of the suspects form that theft and it was clear to officers on-scene that the suspects were the vehicle occupants," Daly wrote in a release. "The vehicle occupants were then placed under arrest."
A search turned up ecstasy, drug paraphernalia and large quantities of stolen merchandise including clothing, shoes and perfumes from Ulta, Kohl’s, JC Penney and Macy’s with a total value of more than $5,300, Daly said.
During processing, police found that the trio had given officers false identities, and all were charged on complaint warrants "due to the belief they posed a danger to the community," Daly said.
All three individuals were lodged in the Passaic County Jail awaiting detention hearings.
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