By Geoffrey Wertime, Staff Writer
MANSFIELD An Egg Harbor City man faces several charges after police said he stole from two vehicles and lied to police about being carjacked.
Carl A. Pipicz, 39, was charged Saturday with burglary, theft, criminal mischief and making a false report to law enforcement.
Police said they responded to the Country Walk development on Fieldcrest Drive at about 2:46 a.m. on a report of a suspicious man peering into vehicles in the area. Police said they located a commercial vehicle in an adjacent construction lot where it appeared to have been parked recently. Police reported contacting the registered owner, who said the person responsible for and in possession of the vehicle was one of his employees, Mr. Pipicz.
Later that morning, at 4:48 a.m., police responded to Route 543 near the entrance to I-295 after someone reporting seeing a person lying in the road. Police arrived to find Mr. Pipicz lying in the road in his underwear, and he told police he had been assaulted and carjacked by two people at that spot. He was taken to Virtua Memorial Hospital in Mount Holly after complaining of pain, police said, but he had no signs of injury and was cleared.
When questioned by police, Mr. Pipicz admitted he hadn’t been carjacked or assaulted and confessed to breaking into two vehicles at the Country Walk development and stealing items from them, police said. Mr. Pipicz told police the reason he took off his clothes and concocted the carjacking story was he believed the resident who saw him peering into vehicles would be able to identify him, according to a police report.
Police said they recovered items stolen from both vehicles in the area of the nearby Homestead development, but are still waiting for property loss statements from the victims. .
Mr. Pipicz was sent to Burlington County Jail in lieu of $15,000 bail with no option to post 10 percent for release.
