Crime & Safety

Fort Lee Police Arrest Three in Connection with Diversion Burglary

Police say the three suspects allegedly posed as repairmen, forcing an elderly couple into their apartment and attempting to rob them

Fort Lee Police said they arrested three Newark men in Fort Lee Saturday in what they’re calling a diversion burglary in which the three allegedly posed as repairmen and attempted to rob an elderly couple in their apartment.

Joshua Evans, 22, Tony Eli, 41, and Sammy Eli, 45, all of Newark, were arrested and charged with robbery, burglary, criminal restraint, resisting arrest and possession of false government documents after they allegedly followed an elderly woman to her apartment at 1315 Anderson Ave. #29, told her there was a leak in her residence that needed to be fixed and then forced their way into the apartment.

According to police, it was Evans who first approached the female victim, whose name was not released, grabbed and pushed her into the apartment, while the Eli brothers also entered the apartment and began moving around communicating using 2-way radios.

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Police say the two elderly victims were then held in the kitchen and told not to move while the Eli brothers attempted the burglary, continuing their story that they were searching for a leak.

When the female victim told the suspects that she was calling the police and moved toward the phone, the three fled the apartment and left in a white pickup truck, according to police.

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Police Officer Brett Howard and Det. Robert Tilton pulled over a Nissan Frontier pickup with three occupants, all matching descriptions provided by the victim, at Whiteman St. and Center Ave. Two of the occupants fled the vehicle and were apprehended after a brief foot pursuit by the two policemen with assistance from police officer Bryan Drumgoole and Lt. Stan Zon, according to police.

Police say Evans and both Elis have extensive arrest records for similar crimes and have used numerous aliases in the past, something police say is common among what they’re calling “traveling criminals.”

In addition, Evans was discovered to have warrants out for his arrest for burglary, including a possible active warrant in Florida. Evans was also charged in connection with a diversion burglary he was allegedly involved in on Bellemeade Ave. in Fort Lee in September, when police allege Evans posed as a fence installer with another accomplice. The victims were also an elderly couple, police say.

According to police, a search of the suspects’ pickup truck turned up numerous items of evidence, which may link the trio to other diversion burglaries. The pickup was equipped with a large container, pump and hose and other tools that could be used in other types of diversion scams, according to police. Evans was also discovered to have various forms of false identification, police say.

Police also believe the three men may have attempted the same type of diversion at another apartment in the same complex Saturday.

Evans and both Elis were sent to Bergen County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail and pending arraignment.


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