JACKSON TOWNSHIP, NJ – To outsiders, the sleepy wooded, but fast-growing town of Jackson has become a target of North Jersey and New York car thieves and shoplifters. According to the Jackson Police Department, at the town’s largest retail center, the Jackson Premium Outlets, thieves know corporate policies are in their favor.
So does that Jackson Police Department. That’s why the department has conducted high visibility and plain clothes details at the outlets.
“In response to recent incidents of overdoses, suspected narcotics activity and numerous instances of shoplifting which have occurred at the Jackson Premium Outlets, detectives assigned to the department’s Special Enforcement Unit along with patrol officers have conducted high visibility and plain clothes details in the area. This is to attempt to identify those individuals who travel to the Outlets specifically to engage in criminal activity such as shoplifting, which in many cases due to corporate policy is not reported until hours or in some cases, days later so the stores can document what has been stolen, making investigating the incidents problematic,” said Captain Steven Laskiewicz.
Laskiewicz said on Wednesday, at approximately 5:25 pm, detectives were on location conducting surveillance when they observed two individuals engaged in suspicious activity near the Nike store which appeared to be consistent with shoplifting.
“They investigated further and with assistance from patrol officers discovered that the suspects were in possession of improvised devices utilized to defeat store’s security measures and also a large amount of merchandise later discovered stolen from multiple stores in the Outlets. The suspects were placed under arrest and the vehicle they had been using was impounded,” Laskiewciz reported today.
Jackson police officers arrested Alfred Miller, age 33 of Cambria Heights, NY. He was charged with shoplifting, conspiracy, possession of burglary tools and being the leader of an organized retail theft enterprise; and DeShawn Reid, age 32 of Mount Vernon, NY. He was charged with shoplifting, conspiracy and possession of burglar tools.
A 2006 Lincoln Zephyr that the two had used in the incident was seized pending further investigation and potential forfeiture proceedings.