Monday, May 04, 2009

MORRISTOWN: In a violent blur in the middle of the day, two armed, masked robbers rushed into the Park Jewelers in Boonton last month, shoving the store owner to the carpet and tying his hands.

In just minutes, the pair ransacked the shop, overturning trays, emptying the safe and stuffing their glittering take into a satchel. They disappeared into the streetscape that day with $135,000 in jewelry, leaving very little for the law to find them. Or so they thought.

A detective with a team of crime intelligence analysts with the Morris County Prosecutor's Office Intelligence Crime Task Force and two tireless Boonton detectives knew otherwise.

One month after the crime, Boonton police and the prosecutor's staff collaborated, using institutional knowledge of street gangs and burglary activities to connect the dots of a complex case and arrest the alleged criminals.

The jewelry store owner was not injured during the April 2 robbery at 11:30 a.m. Some 28 days later, Boonton police got a tip that set the wheels in motion for a meeting with the Morris County Prosecutor's Office Intelligence Crime Task Force and Burglary Task Force.

Detectives and analysts shared information to make a solid connection to the suspects.

"This is exactly what I envisioned when we implemented both the Intelligence Crime Task Force and the Burglary Task Force. The information does not stay here. It gets evaluated, analyzed and put back into the hands of our municipal officers on the street. It is about a collaborative partnership. None of us can do this job ourselves. We need one another and this is an example of how 'intelligence-led policing' pays off in big ways." said Prosecutor Robert A. Bianchi.

Boonton detectives Christian Trowbridge and Leroy Harris agreed. "The work they did definitely helped us. What we did in hours with their help would have taken us a much longer time."

The Intelligence Crime Task Force's partnership with Boonton police led to first-degree robbery charges against a 17-year-old juvenile and 32-year-old Jimmy St. Juste. The Boonton man was also charged with employing a minor in a criminal enterprise, criminal restraint, conspiracy to commit robbery and theft. He remains in the Morris County Jail in lieu of $50,000 bail.

The juvenile was additionally charged with conspiracy to commit robbery, theft and criminal restraint, and he remains in the Morris County Youth Detection Center.

Bianchi credited the efforts of his Intelligence Crime Task Force and Burglary Task Force staff along with the Boonton Police Department, and also noted that both the Dover and Randolph police played a role in the successful outcome. More arrests are expected, Bianchi said.

Despite these pending charges, every defendant is presumed innocent, unless and until found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt following a jury trial at which the defendant has all of his rights guaranteed by the U.S. and New Jersey Constitutions and relevant state law.

This report was filed by Agent Bill Swayze on May 4, 2009.