EAST BRUNSWICK – A man posing as a telephone company worker stole cash from two Route 18 restaurants in the same day last week.
In both cases, the man asked to inspect the phone equipment, and after being allowed in, stole cash from behind the counter areas.
The suspect entered the Makkoli Seafood Buffet in the Village Green Shopping Center around 1 p.m. July 25, stated that he was there to inspect the restaurant’s phone box and began looking underneath the front counter.
An employee went to get the manager and when she returned, the suspect was gone. The employee later discovered that an undetermined amount of cash, credit cards and identification had been stolen from a purse that was behind the counter.
At 2:50 p.m., a man described as being 30 to 35 years old, 6 feet tall, with short blond hair, and dressed in a dark blue T-shirt and blue jeans, entered the Golden East Garden Chinese Restaurant in Mid-State Mall. He again said that he needed to check the phone box, and after walking around the back of the store he began looking under the front counter. He then left the store and entered a white cargo van with Pennsylvania license plates.
A short time later it was discovered that an employee’s wallet, containing an undetermined amount of cash and credit cards, was stolen.
Police asked that anyone who may have information about the suspect call the East Brunswick Investigative Division at (732) 390-6990.