The Secaucus Police Department nabbed two shoplifters who fled the Calvin Klein store by car and then on foot, with a shelter-in-place needed to apprehend one of them.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
On Saturday morning about at 11:55 a.m., the Secaucus Police Department responded to the Calvin Klein store, located at 30 Enterprise Ave., on a report of a shoplifting, Police Chief Dennis Miller said.
The three individuals involved in the shoplifting fled in a car prior to police arrival. While responding to the store, officers observed the vehicle involved in the area of Meadowlands Parkway and 10th Street.
A motor vehicle stop was attempted, where the vehicle subsequently fled from police. The vehicle ultimately came to a stop and the involved parties attempted to flee from the police on foot.
Officers ultimate stopped the vehicle on the Route 3 East ramp from Meadowlands Parkway where all three occupants fled the vehicle.
One man ran west in the eastbound lanes of Route 3 toward East Rutherford and remains at large, while a woman, Martha Toro-Calderon, 54, of Elmhurst, New York was taken into custody a short distance from the vehicle.
The other man, later identified as Carlos Chala Betancur, 43, of Queens, New York, ran down the Route 3 East embankment through the 9th Street Park and was observed by residents in the backyards of residences on 9th Street.
“A perimeter was established and a shelter-in-place was called, with the town’s new emergency alert system was used, but there may be some issues with the system. We also used our social media to relay the shelter-in-place,” Miller explained.
After a search of the backyards with K-9 Brix, Betancur was taken into custody after he was found hiding on the back deck of 773 9th St. Additionally, stolen property was recovered within the vehicle.
Betancur and Toro-Calderon were each charged with shoplifting, possession of an anti-shoplifting control device, conspiracy to commit shoplifting, possession of burglar tools, authorities said.
Furthermore, Betancur was charged with resisting arrest and obstructing the administration of law.
They were issued their complaint summonses before being released from police custody.
