BY KATHY CHANG
Staff Writer
EDISON — A search of the neighborhood by police after they responded to a burglary alarm led to the “swift” arrest of a 61-year-old Edison man for stealing $2,000 in cash and jewelry from a Simpson Avenue residence.
Joseph C. Kot was arrested by Police Detectives Michael Kohut and Steve Todd on Jan. 25. He was charged with two counts of burglary, one count of possession of burglary tools and one count of criminal mischief, according to police.
Police Officers Loren Long and Charles Zundel responded to a burglary alarm from a Simpson Avenue home during the evening of Jan. 25. The officers observed signs of forced entry and that the house had been ransacked.
The patrol officers and detectives searched the surrounding neighborhood and found Kot hiding inside an adjacent home, police said.
The officers retrieved $2,000 worth of cash and jewelry allegedly stolen in the burglary and subsequently returned the items to the homeowners, police said.
Kot is being held at the Middlesex County Adult Corrections Center in North Brunswick as he awaits a bail hearing.
“Burglary is a crime that makes people feel violated in the one place where they should always feel safe — their own homes,” Police Chief Thomas Bryan said. “It’s a good day when I can tell Edison residents their police officers swiftly arrested a suspect allegedly responsible for violating the sanctity of people’s homes.”