Two men are facing charges related to a series of burglaries across northern New Jersey, including one in Livingston that occurred earlier this year.
Bergen County prosecutor Mark Musella announced the arrests of Kali Carter, 49, of East Orange, and Demetrius Hale, 49, of Bergenfield, on various charges. The arrests are the result of a months-long investigation conducted by the Bergen County prosecutor’s office under the direction of Chief Matthew Finck.
From December 2023 through June 2024, multiple jurisdictions in the New York and New Jersey area were affected by a residential burglary pattern. Early on, members of the Bergen County prosecutor’s office Crime Reduction Unit, which was formed in late 2023 as a new initiative to address interjurisdictional crimes, began analyzing crime data, trends, and modus operandi of unsolved burglaries across the region. This collaborative review by law enforcement fromBergen County led investigators to believe that a large cross-section of similar incidents was all connected. In particular, a series of burglaries appeared to fit an emerging pattern across Bergen County, Essex County, and Morris County, as well as similar activity in New York.
With assistance from the Crime Reduction Task Force - a group of municipal law enforcement officers from across Bergen County - the Crime Reduction Unit worked over the course of many weeks to eventually identify the vehicle and suspects involved. Based on a complex and diligent investigation that required physical surveillance, as well as a careful review of video footage and cellular phone records, detectives determined that Carter and Hale had engaged in a burglary spree across northemNew Jersey fornearly seven months in Bergen County, Essex County, and Morris County. Ultimately, detectives from the Bergen County Crime Reduction Task Force connected 18 unsolved burglaries and one attempted burglary, all of which spanned three New Jersey counties, and in so doing, identified Carter and Hale as the suspects responsible.
On Tuesday, August 27, with the assistance of the Bergen County regional SWAT team, members of the Bergen County prosecutor’s office Crime Reduction Task Force executed search warrants at the residences of Carter and Hale. Both men were located at their respective residences and taken into custody without incident by detectives from the Bergen County Crime Reduction Task Force. During the course of the court-authorized searches, detectives recovered a .380 caliber semiautomatic Bersa Thunder handgun from Carter’s residence.
As a result of the investigation, on August 27, Carter and Hale were remanded to the Bergen County jail, each charged with 16 counts of various burglary and theft offenses for incidents that occurred in Bergen County between January and June of this year.
The following day, on Wednesday, August 28, based on the results of the investigation – and thanks to the coordination of law enforcement in both Essex County and Morris County – the Bergen County prosecutor’s office further charged the pair with 11 additional counts each of various burglary and theft offenses for out-of-county incidents that occurred between January and June of this year. Among those charges were a residential burglary that took place in Livingston this past March.
Also on August 28, in light of the weapon recovered by detectives during the search of Carter’s residence, he was additionally charged with one count of first-degree possession of a firearm and one count of seconddegree certain persons not to have weapons. Because of those weapon offenses, Carter remains in custody in the Bergen County jail awaiting a detention hearing, having been charged as described above with a total of 18 counts of third-degree burglary; one count of attempted burglary; four counts of second-degree theft; and four counts of third-degree theft.
Hale also remains in the custody of the Bergen County jail awaiting a detention hearing, having been charged with a total of 18 counts of third-degree burglary; one count of attempted burglary; four counts of second-degree theft; and four counts of third-degree theft.
“Thanks to the relentless and diligent work of the newly formed Crime Reduction Unit, and the considerable countywide resource that we have named the Crime Reduction Task Force, it is once again clear how collaboration among county and municipal law enforcement agencies can have a direct impact on complex cases,” said Bergen County prosecutor Mark Musella. “While some investigations are resolved quickly, others require the patience and perseverance of our law enforcement officers and detectives from multiple agencies who work tirelessly to follow every lead, analyze evidence, and piece together pattern crimes. In this way, the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office will continue to partner with law enforcement from across the county and across the state so that a coordinated response to organized criminal activity can have a direct impact on the quality of life for the entire region.”
Musella noted that these charges are merely accusations, and that the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. He additionally thanked the Essex County and Morris County prosecutor’s offices for their assistance with this multijurisdictional matter, as well as the municipal police departments of Bergen County that are participating in the newly formed Crime Reduction Task Force. He also credited the numerous law enforcement agencies that had a hand in this investigation, including the Bergenfield Police Department; Chatham Borough Police Department; East Orange Police Department; Hackensack Police Department; Hasbrouck Heights Police Department; Ho-Ho-Kus Police Department; Leonia Police Department; Livingston Police Department; Parsippany Police Department; Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police Department; Ridgewood Police Department; Township of Washington Police Department; Verona Police Department; West Orange Police Department; and the Wyckoff Police Department.
