Two NJ Men Charged in Connection with Burglary Spree, Including in Hasbrouck Heights
By TAPinto Hasbrouck Heights/Wood-Ridge/Teterboro Staff,
2024-08-31
The Bergen County Prosecutor announced the arrests of two New Jersey men on various charges related to a series of burglaries across northern New Jersey, including one incident in Hasbrouck Heights. Credits: Bergen County Prosecutor's Office
HACKENSACK, NJ - Two New Jersey men were arrested on multiple charges including burglary, theft, and weapons charges in a three-county burglary spree.
Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella announced the arrests of Kali J. Carter, 49, of East Orange, NJ, and Demetrius D. Hale, 49, of Bergenfield, NJ, on various charges related to a series of burglaries across northern New Jersey. The arrests are the result of a months-long investigation conducted by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office.
From December 2023 through June 2024, multiple jurisdictions in the New York and New Jersey area were affected by a residential burglary pattern. Early on, members of the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Crime Reduction Unit, which was formed in late 2023 as a new initiative to address inter-jurisdictional crimes, began analyzing crime data, trends, and modus operandi of unsolved burglaries across the region. This collaborative review by law enforcement from Bergen County led investigators to believe that a large cross-section of similar incidents was all connected. In particular, a series of burglaries appeared to fit an emerging pattern across Bergen, Essex, and Morris Counties, as well as similar activity in New York.
The Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Crime Reduction Unit activated the assistance of its companion resource, the Crime Reduction Task Force – a group of municipal law enforcement officers from across Bergen County – who worked together over the course of many weeks to eventually identify the vehicle and suspects involved. Based on a complex and diligent investigation that required physical surveillance, as well as a careful review of video footage and cellular phone records, detectives determined that Carter and Hale engaged in a burglary spree across northern New Jersey for nearly seven months in Bergen. Essex. and Morris Counties.
Detectives from the Bergen County Crime Reduction Task Force connected 18 unsolved burglaries and one attempted burglary, all of which spanned three New Jersey counties, and in so doing, identified Carter and Hale as the suspects responsible.
On Tuesday, August 27, 2024, with the assistance of the Bergen County Regional SWAT Team, members of the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Crime Reduction Task Force executed search warrants at the residences of Carter in East Orange, NJ and Hale in Bergenfield, NJ. Both men were located at their respective residences and taken into custody without incident by detectives.
During the course of the court-authorized searches, detectives recovered a .380 caliber semiautomatic Bersa Thunder handgun from Carter’s residence.
On Tuesday, August 27, 2024, Carter and Hale were remanded to the Bergen County Jail, each charged with 16 counts of various burglary and theft offenses for incidents that occurred in Bergen County, NJ, including:
January 2024 • Residential burglary in Ho-Ho-Kus. • Residential burglary in Hackensack. • Residential burglary in Paramus. • Two residential burglaries in Ridgewood.
February 2024 • Residential burglary in Hasbrouck Heights.
March 2024 • Residential burglary in Hackensack.
June 2024 • Residential burglary in the Township of Washington. • Residential burglary in Leonia. • Residential burglary in Wyckoff. • Residential burglary in Hackensack.
On Wednesday, August 28, 2024, based on the results of the Bergen County Crime Reduction Task Force investigation, in coordination of law enforcement in both Essex County and Morris County – the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office further charged Carter and Hale with 11 additional counts each of various burglary and theft offenses for out-of-county incidents, including:
January 2024 • Residential burglary in Chatham Borough, Morris County. • Attempted Residential burglary in West Orange, Essex County.
February 2024 • Residential burglary in West Orange, Essex County.
March 2024 • Residential burglary in Livingston, Essex County.
June 2024 • Two Residential burglaries in West Orange, Essex County. • Residential burglary in Parsippany, Morris County. • Residential burglary in Verona, Essex County.
In light of the weapon recovered by detectives from the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office during the search of Carter’s residence, and with the coordination of the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, Carter was additionally charged with one count of first-degree possession of a firearm; and one count of second-degree certain persons not to have weapons. He remains in the custody of the Bergen County Jail awaiting a detention hearing, having been charged as described above with a total of 18 counts of third-degree burglary; one count of attempted burglary; four counts of second-degree theft; and four counts of third-degree theft.
Carter's charges encompass all of the crimes committed across Bergen, Essex and Morris Counties.
Hale also remains in the custody of the Bergen County Jail awaiting a detention hearing, having been charged as described above with a total of 18 counts of third-degree burglary; one count of attempted burglary; four counts of second-degree theft; and four counts of third-degree theft. Hale’s charges encompass all of the crimes committed across the same three counties.
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