MONROE, NJ – Last Friday, the employees of Mike’s Golf Carts in Monroe (South Jersey) came to work to find somebody had removed and stolen 25 batteries from golf carts stored in a yard at the business.
“During the early morning hours of February 4, 2022, a male subject entered a fenced in area of Mike’s Golf Carts, located at 1972 N. Black Horse Pike. The subject removed (25) batteries from numerous golf carts and the incident was reported to this agency that morning. At approximately 5:53 PM, dispatch received a call reporting a suspicious vehicle in front of the business and the caller advised that they believed it to be the vehicle involved with the earlier reported incident,” the Monroe Police Department said.
The vehicle was then seen driving around the area. A patrol officer responded to the area and was able to locate the vehicle. An investigatory stop was made to the vehicle in the vicinity of the business and the driver was identified as Vincent J. Framo. Officers were unable to establish criminal activity or evidence of the prior theft that would justify further detection.
The vehicle was permitted to leave and the lead was forwarded to the Detective Bureau for the investigation. The stolen batteries were located by detectives at a scrapyard in Camden County on February 8, 2022. It was determined that Mr. Framo sold the batteries to the business on February 5, 2022. The items were seized and returned to the victim.
On February 9, 2022, with the assistance of Gloucester Township Police, Mr. Framo was located in Gloucester Township, where he was taken into custody. A subsequent interview by detectives was conducted and Mr. Framo confessed to the theft, in addition to an earlier dated incident in Gloucester Township. As a result, Warrant 0811 2022 000084 was initiated against Mr. Framo for Theft, Criminal Mischief, and Trespassing. He was later remanded to Salem County Jail.