By Gene Robbins, Managing Editor
Three months after being jailed, James DeFazio, of Readington Township, is scheduled to enter a plea Monday, May 13, to several charges, including three burglaries and thefts in Hillsborough.
Mr. DeFazio, 33, has been jailed since being charged in Hunterdon. He will face Superior Court Judge Stephen Rubin in a Flemington courtroom. Mr. DeFazio is represented by David Hamilton, a public defender.
In the Hillsborough incidents, Mr. DeFazio was charged in early April with a second-degree weapons charge, one count of second-degree burglary, two counts of third-degree burglary and four counts of third-degree theft.
Of the three alleged Hillsborough burglaries, all were reported during the daytime hours.
One is said to have taken place Nov. 26 with $2,000 in jewelry reported missing sometime between daytime hours from a home on Long Hill Road.
A second incident allegedly occurred Jan. 14 when a .45-caliber Glock handgun and a $400 safe containing jewelry and personal documents were reported missing during daytime hours from a home on Amwell Road in the Neshanic area.
Feb. 1, more than $64,000 worth of jewelry, cash, electronic items and an armoire were reported stolen sometime during the day from a Zion Road home.
Mr. DeFazio was being held on a total of $485,000 bail, including $200,000 from the Hillsborough charges, and $200,000 from alleged theft and break-ins in neighboring Readington Township.
Readington police noticed in December and January that residential break-ins and thefts in Readington corresponded to an increase in incidents in neighboring municipalities.
Surveillance led investigators to a Union Township home Feb. 11 where Readington Township police say they witnessed Mr. DeFazio committing a burglary, Chief Sebastian Donaruma said in a statement.
Mr. DeFazio was apprehended by Readington officers and members of the burglary task force and arrested after officers found various stolen items in his possession, Chief Donaruma said.
He has been held in the Hunterdon jail since Feb. 11 on charges of burglary, receiving stolen property and not being a person allowed to possess a firearm, referring to the handgun allegedly taken from the Hillsborough home.
Mr. DeFazio has served time in prison, including burglary convictions when he was a young man, officials said.
