N.B. resident charged with computer theft
Police say $50K
of equipment missing
from Carteret schools
Martin Connolly, 29, of North Brunswick and Michael Jubanowski, 48, of Bayville were arrested and charged with receiving stolen property in relation to an estimated $50,000 in missing computer equipment from schools in Carteret, according to police.
"Mr. Connolly was arrested by the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office," said Lt. John Bonura. "They handled the situation. We assisted and held him in the jail until he posted bail here."
Connolly was arrested at his North Brunswick home the night of Jan. 25 and was immediately released on $5,000 bail. After the arrest of Connolly, the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office also confirmed that this investigation led to a second arrest. Jubanowski surrendered himself to police at 9 a.m. Wednesday morning and immediately posted the bail of $35,000.
Assistant County Prosecutor Cindy Glaser said that the arrests were part of an ongoing investigation.
"Our office worked in conjunction with Carteret and we arrested Connolly on Friday evening," Glaser said. "This is an investigation that started just a few days ago. He is one of two people who had allegedly stolen computer equipment from the schools."
Jubanowski had worked as Carteret’s assistant superintendent and as the business administrator. He had been formally charged with possession of stolen property late last week, but was not arrested at the time.
Connolly worked as the computer supervisor for the Carteret school district until this fall, according to Glaser. When the new supervisor was hired, it was discovered that computers were missing.
"The new computer tech was looking for stuff that was supposed to be there," Glaser said. "He started noticing that stuff was missing. He brought it to the attention of the Board of Education who then brought it to the attention of Carteret police."
The assistant prosecutor said that police located a great deal of equipment in the possession of Connolly.
"We believe a total of approximately $50,000 worth of computer equipment was stolen from the school," Glaser said. "Several computers and related equipment have been located. We found a great deal in Mr. Connolly’s car. The items are being held at this point."
"It definitely came together very fast," Glaser said. "Most investigations tend to vary, but Carteret really did a super job on this. The board is going to continue its audit to determine the exact amount of equipment missing. They do not know if everything has been recovered."
The Carteret school district did not respond to requests for information about the two employees.