YOU SAW IT HERE FIRST: A business-suited, briefcase-carrying burglar was caught on surveillance video breaking into a Leonia home yesterday.
Police believe the bandit who struck on Cottage Place at 3:30 p.m. — and possibly on nearby Hillside Avenue around the same time — had an accomplice. Neighbors reported seeing a white minivan that might have been occupied by a lookout.
“We’re trying to determine whether the two break-ins are connected,” Capt. Scott Tamagny told CLIFFVIEW PILOT this morning.
A portion of the video released by police shows the burglar in a grayish suit, with a black shirt and print tie and aviator glasses, carrying a briefcase and speaking with someone in Spanish through an earpiece on a cellphone.
“We’ve seen this before,” Tamagny said. “People see someone in a suit, they don’t think anything of it.”
After popping the rear door open with a tire iron, the burglar closes the lock and looks directly into the camera before heading inside.
Tamagny asked that anyone with information that could help the investigation call Leonia police:
(201) 944-0800
IMAGES: Courtesy LEONIA PD
