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TagsBY NOAH COHEN
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
Two Bergen County men were arrested Oct. 21 after they burglarized a house in Englewood and authorities believe the two are responsible for a rash of similar crimes in the area, the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office said Thursday.
Detectives from a task force of county and local investigators were following Melvin Collins, 43, of Teaneck, and William Christopher Collins, 36, of Hackensack, who are not related, when the pair allegedly forced open the door of an unoccupied home on Arch Road in Englewood's East Hill section. The arrests came after weeks of investigation involving as many as six municipalities and detectives from the county prosecutor's office.
"They proceeded to ransack the residence before departing the home through a back door carrying with them proceeds including several thousand dollars in cash and a large floor safe," said a statement from the prosecutor's office.
Task force members followed the pair to Melvin Collins' home on Locust Street in Teaneck where they were arrested after a brief struggle with police. After getting a search warrant for the house and two vehicles, task force detectives found the floor safe and a briefcase allegedly stolen from the Arch Road home. Ski masks, gloves, jewelry boxes stuffed inside pillowcases and about $4,000 in cash was also found, the prosecutor's office said.Investigators were trailing the two after they emerged as suspects in a series of burglaries around Bergen County. Prosecutor John Molinelli said the task force focused on Melvin Collins after he was linked to an Oct. 8 burglary in Rochelle Park. Evidence found in the search linked Melvin Collins to the Rochelle Park case, the prosecutor said.
While under surveillance, the men scouted homes to target in Teaneck, Leonia, Palisades Park and Englewood, the prosecutor's office said.
Melvin Collins and William Christopher Collins were each charged with burglary, theft, receiving stolen property and possession of burglar's tools in connection with the Arch Road case. Judge Lois Lipton set bail at $100,000 with no ten percent option.
Molinelli said the two suspects are career criminals with a long history of trouble with the law.
New Jersey State Parole Board spokesman Neal Buccino said Melvin Collins is currently on parole and a decision has not yet been made on whether his parole would be revoked.
"When a parolee is charged with a new crime, the individual may face immediate parole revocation proceedings depending on available evidence. If immediate revocation proceedings are not pursued, the parolee's supervision will continue pending the disposition of the new criminal charge," Buccino said in an e-mail message.
State Department of Corrections records show Melvin Collins served prison time for charges including aggravated assault, burglary, theft, robbery and weapons-related crimes. He was in jail from August 2000 to July 2006 and briefly incarcerated again from July to October 2006.
William Christopher Collins was jailed from October 2002 to December 2006 on burglary, weapons and drug charges, according to state records.
Both men were being held at the Bergen County Jail at the time of this report.
Molinelli thanked police in Teaneck, Rochelle Park, Englewood Cliffs, Englewood, Paramus and River Edge for assisting in the investigation.
