Rutherford juvenile busted for stealing martial arts equipment
By Alexis Tarrazi
Senior Reporter
RUTHERFORD (April 2, 2009, 4:20 p.m.) — A former student from United Family Martial Arts was recently arrested for stealing a large number of equipment materials, such as nunchucks and belts, in order to use for his own martial arts class at a nearby church, police said.
The 16-year-old Rutherford male was arrested and will soon be charged for burglary and theft, according to police.
Rutherford Police Detective Lt. Patrick Feliciano said the studio's owners reported the crime Monday, March 9 at 8 p.m. The owner believed the burglary occurred sometime between March 7 and March 9.
A laundry list of items were found missing from the 42 Park Ave. establishment, including three nunchucks, three duffel bags, 31 T-shirts, 15 martial arts belts, one windbreaker-type suit, four martial arts strike pads, four bags of throwing stars, two practice rubber knives, eight rolls of tape, 14 uniform patches, three key chains, one jump rope, six martial arts uniforms, two headbands and 10 orange cones.
“We do not have a value, but I am sure it was not cheap,” Feliciano said. “There were a lot of items there.”
No signs of forced entry were discovered at the scene, but Feliciano said the former student claimed he left behind some personal belongings in the basement and had to pick them up. “We believe when he came to retrieve his equipment, he propped another door open so he could later on enter undetected and take the stuff,” Feliciano said.
A lead from a witness helped connect the juvenile to the crime. The witness reported that Sunday, March 8 she had observed the juvenile at the front desk at approximately 10:45 a.m.
“As a result of the information, the Sensi was questioned and identified the person as the former student,” Feliciano said.
Through an interview, the student allegedly admitted to stealing the items and stashing them at a church on East Passaic Avenue. The juvenile claimed he used the equipment to teach a martial arts class on Sundays at the church, police said.
The equipment was recovered and returned to the owner. During the investigation, police believe that another juvenile, a 15-year-old male, also of Rutherford, was involved with the crime. An interview with the juvenile has yet to be scheduled.