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The self-checkout cashier at Stop & Shop on Lewandowski Street told a supervisor after seeing the pair go in and out of the store, making several inexpensive purchases while withdrawing $200 at a time, Detective Sgt. Vincent Auteri said.
Responding Officers Anthony Calabro, Nick Abruscato and Lt. Andrew Marmorato found both men sitting in a white BMW with New York license plates outside the store, Auteri said.
They “immediately detected an odor of burnt marijuana inside the car,” the sergeant said.
They found the duo carrying several stolen credit cards, $221 worth of merchandise bought at the store and the $2,800 in cash – all in twenties, he said.
Auteri said the two men – identified as Alex Fernandez and Andy Rodriguez – told him and Detective Anthony Alexander that they got the stolen credit cards to carry out the scheme.
Both were charged with theft by deception, unlawful use of credit cards and possession of pot and drug paraphernalia before being released, pending court action, under New Jersey’s 2017 bail reform law.
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