NEWARK, NJ – After a Maserati was stolen from a home in Mountain Lakes and found abandoned in Newark, a Newark Police Department investigation tied the crime to an 18-year-old city resident.
This week, Morris County Prosecutor Robert J. Carroll, Chief of Detectives Christoph K. Kimker, Morris County Sheriff James Gannon and Mountain Lakes Police Chief Shawn Bennett announce the arrest of Raymond Branch, 18, of Newark, New Jersey.
“On August 15, 2021, the Mountain Lakes Police Department responded to the report of a 2017 black Maserati Ghibli stolen from a residence. During the initial investigation of the stolen vehicle, it was learned that a male also attempted to steal a 2021 Audi Q7 from a nearby residence. The Maserati was recovered in Newark, NJ, later that morning,” the department said. “Subsequent investigation and information provided by surrounding law enforcement agencies identified Branch as a suspect. Cellular telephone records, provided by Essex County authorities, were analyzed by Mountain Lakes Police and the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office Intelligence Unit. It was learned that Branch used real estate and mapping applications on his cellular phone in the area of the theft in Mt. Lakes on the morning of August 15th.”
Members of the Morris County Sheriff’s Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) section forensically processed the Maserati, which resulted in recovering a latent fingerprint from the front driver door window interior, matching to Raymond Branch.
As a result of these investigations, Branch was charged by complaint warrant and is currently lodged in the Somerset County Correctional Facility on separate theft charges.