Officers were responding to a burglar alarm shortly before 3 a.m. when the employee of Wayne Wholesale Fertilizer in the township’s Mountain View section called police headquarters and said he’d seen an intruder on video.
Given the “size of the interior and the many obstructions created by products and equipment,” police summoned two Passaic County sheriff’s K-9s, Detective Capt. Daniel Daly said.
Officers from Lincoln Park and Fairfield also responded, Daly said.
A short time later, police found William Mininni hiding between a pallet of fertilizer and a wall, the captain said.
Mininni, who was arrested without incident, was carrying work gloves and a flashlight, he said.
Police also found a hammer and chisel near a hole in a cinder block wall where he’d apparently broke in, Daly said.
Mininni was released pending a court appearance under New Jersey’s 2017 bail reform law, the captain said.
He’s charged with burglary, attempted theft, hindering, criminal mischief and possession of burglary tools.
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