METUCHEN — Within a three-day period, police were able to apprehend suspects in three different incidents of stealing items from motor vehicles in the borough.
Police arrested and charged Gregory T. Sokol, 30, of Edison, for entering a 2009 Chevy Impala that was parked at a West Chestnut Avenue residence and stealing $10 in change at 3:35 a.m. Aug. 15. The victim flagged down a police officer and described the suspect to the officer. Police apprehended the suspect at a gas station on Central Avenue.
Sokol’s bail was set at $5,000 with no 10 percent option. He was transported to the Middlesex County Adult Correction Center, North Brunswick.
The previous day, police arrested Joseph Wagner, 32, of Jackson, for allegedly attempting to break into motor vehicles parked in the Bridge Pointe office complex at 2 p.m. Aug. 14. Police were dispatched to the complex on a report of a “suspicious person looking into cars.”
When police arrived at the complex, they approached the suspect and asked him for his identification. The suspect gave police a different name and a false date of birth, according to the police report. Wagner was charged with hindering his own apprehension.
The third incident occurred in the parking lot of the Metuchen Manor apartment complex on Route 27 at 2:15 a.m. Aug. 13.
Police were dispatched to the complex after a couple called police informing them that several males were pulling on car door handles. The couple gave a description of the suspects to the police.
Yasir Ali, 19, of Carteret, and Gurpreet Sandhu, 24, also of Carteret, were apprehended at the scene. Police observed a male, later identified as Sandhu, sitting on a porch of an apartment and another male, later identified as Ali, sitting in a Lexus that had Pennsylvania license plates.
On Aug. 14, police arrested Harpreet Singh, 19, of Jamaica, N.Y., and GurvinderMavi, 25, of Easton, Pa. Mavi was the owner of the Lexus.
The suspects were in possession of several items, including cell phones and GPS navigational units, which they allegedly had stolen from several motor vehicles.
Mavi was charged with conspiracy to commit burglary, and Singh was released without being charged. Sandhu and Ali were charged with burglary and theft.
Bail for each of the three suspects was set at $10,000 with no 10 percent payment option. They were all transported to the Middlesex County Adult Correction Center.