State police investigating possible links to other burglaries
By Joanne Degnan, Managing Editor
MILLSTONE — Two Trenton men have been charged with three burglaries in Millstone Township and Roosevelt Borough and the state police are investigating whether the duo are connected to a string of similar home break-ins in the area.
Alex Laura, 32, and Oliver Cabrera, 22, have been charged with burglary, theft by unlawful taking and criminal mischief, state police Detective Brett Hogan said Wednesday. They are being held on $50,000 bail in the Monmouth County Jail.
Jewelry, electronics, coins, handguns, long guns and an unusual “wolf rug” made from an animal’s hide were stolen in a mid-day burglary spree Aug. 1 that involved homes on Yellow Meeting House Road and Rising Sun Road in Millstone, and Brown Street in Roosevelt, Detective Hogan said.
Mr. Laura and Mr. Cabrera were arrested the same day when troopers stopped Mr. Cabrera’s vehicle and saw stuffed pillowcases and the large wolf rug in the back seat, Detective Hogan said.
The suspects told state police they would knock on the door of a targeted home to determine if anyone was home, and if no one answered, go around to the side or back of the house to gain entry through either a window or door, Detective Hogan said. Their undoing came when they knocked on the door of a fourth home in Millstone and a homeowner unexpectedly answered, Detective Hogan said.
Caught off guard, Mr. Cabrera asked the homeowner for directions to Great Adventure, Detective Hogan said. The homeowner thought this was suspicious and wrote down the vehicle’s license plate number and called state police.
Troopers Ryon Barclay and Christopher Kish, who had heard the broadcast about the suspicious vehicle’s license plate tags, spotted it traveling toward Trenton on Route 129 and pulled it over, Detective Hogan said.
The wolf rug was in plain view as well as pillowcases stuffed with items, Detective Hogan said. After a search warrant was obtained, it was determined that the rug and items inside the pillowcases, as well as the pillowcases themselves, were stolen from the homes in Millstone and Roosevelt, Detective Hogan said.
“We are currently investigating whether these two men are tied to other burglaries that have occurred in the Millstone, Upper Freehold and Roosevelt area,” Detective Hogan said.
State police are encouraging homeowners to keep their doors and windows locked when they are not at home and to report suspicious persons and vehicles in their neighborhoods. He noted that thieves often try to avoid suspicion by driving commercial-size vans and carrying clipboards as they approach targeted homes so that neighbors assume they are contractors.

