BAYONNE AND BEYOND — After an investigation that police say lasted nearly two years, police arrested Marcelino Torres, 40, of Bayonne, charging with stealing 24 minivans during a period from March, 2009 to July 2010.
Police Detective Captain Walter Rogers said forensic evidence gathered from several of the vans and processed through the New Jersey State Police Office of Forensic Sciences led to the charges.
The minivan thefts stopped about a month before Marcelino was sent to a Union County jail in August, 2010, Rogers said.
Because the state maintains a forensic data base gathered from prisoners, the police detectives were able to come up with evidence that linked Marcelino to some of the van thefts, Rogers said.
Marcelino has been charged with 24 counts of burglary and theft and one attempted theft of a vehicle.
Our Digital Archive from 2000 – 2016
