At only 20 years old, Veelique Farrior-Harris already has a sizable rap sheet, mostly involving small-time burglaries and thefts, records show.
Lyndhurst police began looking for him, Detective Lt. Vincent Auteri said, after 16 vehicles were burglarized – on Jay, Port, Link and Stuyvesant avenues – between 2:30-4 a.m. Aug. 5.
Detective Nick Abruscato identified a stolen Fort Taurus that Farrior-Harris used during the break-ins, the lieutenant said.
The detective then learned that credit cards stolen from the vehicles had been used at various McDonald's restaurants, gas stations and a beauty supply store in New Jersey, Brooklyn and Pennsylvania, he said.
Abruscato began tracking the vehicle as it moved from state to state, Auteri said.
He also worked with other law enforcement agencies to assemble surveillance images of Farrior-Harris at various locations, he said.
Pennsylvania State Police arrested Farrior-Harris for stealing $799 from a 69-year-old woman’s wallet last month after crashing a different stolen car -- this one from South Orange, NJ, authorities said.
He was sent to the Monroe County Correctional Facility in Snydersville, PA, and was extradited to New Jersey last week.
Farrior-Harris remained held Monday in the Bergen County Jail, charged with more than a dozen counts of burglary and multiple counts of theft, records show.
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