A grand jury in Middlesex County has handed up a 142-count indictment charging two New York men with taking part in a series of burglaries in nine communities.
Felix Bruno, 33, and Anthony Goodwine, 50, both of the Bronx, were charged with committing burglaries between Dec. 12, 2013, and Aug. 18, 2014, and collecting more than $850,000 in cash and jewelry, according to a statement prepared by the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office.
The grand jury handed up 25 counts on Sept. 29 against both men for committing the burglaries in concert, charged Bruno separately with another 113 counts, and charged Goodwine with four separate counts, contending he was involved in four burglaries without help from his co-defendant, according to the statement.
Authorities from the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office and police from the nine municipalities investigated the various burglaries and linked the defendants to the crimes. A total of 65 burglaries were allegedly committed by either or both of the defendants.
The burglaries occurred on various dates in Edison, East Brunswick, South Brunswick, Piscataway Old Bridge, North Brunswick, South Plainfield and Milltown.
Two other burglaries, which occurred in Livingston, were transferred from Essex County after it was determined the two defendants were responsible.
The grand jury, sitting in New Brunswick, charged both defendants with counts of conspiracy, theft by unlawful taking, burglary, and resisting arrest on Aug. 19, 2014, while reportedly attempting to flee from police before they were apprehended, the statement said.
In addition, the panel separately charged Bruno with burglary, theft by deception, two counts of unlawful possession of a .22-caliber handgun and criminal mischief by damaging the properties of two residents while reportedly committing the burglaries.
Goodwine was charged separately with burglary and theft by deception for the four home invasions he allegedly committed without his co-defendant.
Both men were being held at the Middlesex County Adult Corrections Center in North Brunswick in lieu of bail as of press time.
Anyone with information should call their local police department or the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office at 732-745-3300.