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SOUTH BRUNSWICK:Police charge alleged Exit 8A truck tire thief

SOUTH BRUNSWICK — A five month investigation culminated Tuesday afternoon when the United States Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force and South Brunswick Police detectives took Christopher Mason, 50, into custody at a residence in the Borough of Lodi, Bergen County, police said.
Police in multiple jurisdictions had been searching for Mr. Mason in connection to numerous thefts of commercial truck tires around the State.
In South Brunswick, police said there had been seven thefts totaling $59,000.
South Brunswick Police Detective Dennis Yuhasz began investigating the series of thefts of commercial truck tires at businesses off Exit 8A of the New Jersey Turnpike starting in May.
In each of the seven cases, police said, the suspect would place 4×4 pieces of wood under the axles of the trucks and remove the tires.
The commercial box trucks were all parked at businesses and the thefts would take place on weekends or during overnight hours, police said.
Surveillance video from the warehouses where the thefts took place showed a white van had been used by the suspect to remove the tires from the locations.
South Plainfield Police had a similar theft and provided Detective Yuhasz with Mr. Mason as a possible suspect, police said.
An automatic license plate reader on a South Brunswick Police patrol car identified Mr. Mason’s vehicle, a white van, as being in the township at the time of one of the thefts.
Police said they enhanced video from the most recent thefts at the end of August to develop the suspect’s image.
Detective Yuhasz then used Facebook images of Mr. Mason to link his current appearance to the images from the surveillance tapes.
A warrant for Mason was issued two weeks ago charging him with the thefts, police said.
The United States Marshal’s Fugitive Task Force obtained a tip that indicated Mr. Mason was at a Lodi address.
Mr. Mason was taken into custody without incident, and was lodged at the Middlesex County Adult Correction Center in North Brunswick on $80,000 bail, police said.
Chief of Police Raymond Hayducka recognized the coordination between so many different agencies in ending Mr. Mason’s alleged crime spree.
"It took the combined efforts of a dozen police agencies to identify and track down this suspect," said Chief Hayducka. "The teamwork in the case resulted in the successful capture of Mr. Mason." Chief Hayducka thanked all the agencies who assisted in the investigation including, the United States Marshal’s Service, New Jersey State Police, Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office, Lodi Police, Paramus Police, South Plainfield Police, and Cranbury Police.