Turned out to be a huge break.
Officer Matt Orefice was talking with the 44-year-old victim at the Capital Grille on Route 17 when the man received an alert on his cellphone that a credit card of his had just been used at the Nieman Marcus store in the Garden State Plaza just down the road, Police Chief Robert Guidetti said.
Orefice quickly notified Neiman Marcus security and headed to the mall, where he saw Boubacar Diallo, 28, of Queens, leave the Louis Vuitton store and enter the Gucci store, the chief said.
The officer arrested Diallo and retrieved the victim's wallet and credit cards, Guidetti said.
Diallo hadn't wasted any time, buying $757.04 in fragrances from Neiman Marcus and $1,810 worth of clothing from Louis Vuitton using the victim's cards, the chief said.
Diallo was charged with theft, fraudulent use of a credit card and possession of stolen property before being released, pending court action, under New Jersey's bail reform law.
Police in Dumont arrested Diallo earlier this year following a wild chase that ended with him crashing outside a church in Bergenfield.
Police said they found $10,800 in cash in the Jeep Cherokee that he'd been driving. They seized that and the money.
SEE: Fleeing Dumont Driver Crashes, Bails, Caught Carrying $10,800 In Twenties, Police Say
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