Millburn Police arrested four Chicago men Saturday for allegedly attempting to exchange counterfeit I-Phones for authentic ones at the Apple Store at the Mall at Short Hills, said Det. Lt. Keith Laverty.
Police responded to a report from the store and after an investigation, arrested Xu Guangzhou, 29; Wenhui Huang, 24; Jonell L. Crump, 22, and a 17-year-old, all from Chicago, IL. Each was charged with theft by deception and released pending a court date.
Police also arrested four people in two separate incidents of shoplifting at the mall last week, said Laverty.
Two Staten Island men were arrested at Bloomingdales last Tuesdsay. Timothy Oredugba, 19, of Staten Island, was accused of concealing a $295 belt on him and leaving the store without paying. He was charged with shoplifting, credit card theft, possession of 50 grams or less of marijuana and drug paraphernalia, said Laverty.
The other man, Nathaniel Williams, 21, was found to have given false information regarding his identity to police, and was charged with hindering apprehension or prosecution. Both men were released pending a court date, said Laverty.
On Wednesday, police responded to a report of a Brooklyn man and woman who had opened credit cards at Victoria’s Secret with what store personnel believed to be fraudulent identification.
The woman, Mercedes Chambers, 29, attempted to flee as police approached, and was caught after a brief chase, said Laverty. After finding her and Wayne E. Wheeler, Jr. in possession of fraudulent id’s, police arrested the pair and charged the with forgery, theft of identity, fraudulent use of credit cards and possession of false government documents.
On Thursday, police responded to the Saks Fifth Avenue at the mall where they arrested Musheerah A. Ware, 22, of East Orange, and charged her with shoplifting two Burberry shirts valued at $650.
Finally, Millburn Police arrested a Maplewood man who reportedly stole nearly $140 worth of merchandise from the CVS in Millburn last Tuesday, according to Laverty. Police arrested Cleveland Smith, age 43, and charged him with shoplifting. He was turned over to the Union County Sheriff’s Department on an outstanding warrant.
