Chronic ID Thief Nabbed With Cocaine, Bogus Licenses, Phony Credit Cards: Lyndhurst Police

A repeat offender was busted by a Lyndhurst police officer who found him carrying cocaine, fake driver's licenses and phony credit cards during a traffic stop, authorities said.

Jerry DeMarco

02/07/2022 9:06 a.m.

It's not the first -- or even second -- time that Miguel Arias, 36, has recently been busted in the area for those charges, records show.

This time, Lyndhurst Police Officer Michael Clifford stopped Arias for driving an older-model Mercedes Benz through a commercial parking lot at Polito and Rutherford avenues without his headlights on shortly after 2 a.m. last week, Detective Lt. Vincent Auteri said.

Arias handed him a bogus driver's license, but the officer quickly identified him, Auteri said. Then he discovered the vehicle's registration was suspended.

Add to that the drugs and phony documents, which produced 17 criminal charges in all, as well as traffic summonses, Auteri said.

Arias was arrested on Jan. 27 for similar crimes and then released hours later, under New Jersey's bail reform law. He was also busted for the same offenses in Secaucus in October 2020, records show.

Arias remained held Monday, Feb. 7, in the Bergen County Jail following Friday's arrest. Charges include possession of cocaine, drug paraphernalia and fraudulent documents, fraudulent use of credit cards and identity theft.

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