Owners of stolen property sought

Newton - Town police are attempting to identify recovered property and find the rightful owners after a motor vehicle stop led to their discovery. On Tuesday March 27, at 1:58 a.m. Newton Police Officers checked on a suspicious looking vehicle parked in the parking lot of Newton Shop-Rite at 125 Water Street. The vehicle, a silver 1999 Hyundai, was parked with the engine off, the parking lights on and the ignition keys were on the front seat. The window was down, although it was raining. The officers saw a number of electronic devices on the front seat and investigated further since there had been several recent thefts of such devices from cars David Machuca, 45, whose last known address was in Franklin, was the driver and owner of the car. An employee of the Shop-Rite, he was found inside and in possession of a wallet with photo identification that had been stolen from a parked vehicle at Newton Memorial Hospital at about 2 p.m. on Monday, March 26. In that case, someone smashed out the window of the locked vehicle and stole the owner’s pocketbook, a Sirius Satellite radio and music CD’s (value $790.00). In addition, there was a report of a locked vehicle being burglarized while it was parked at the Sussex County Community College at aboutr 12:30 p.m. on Monday, March 26.That vehicle’s window was also smashed and a GPS navigation system and music CD’s were stolen(value $650.00). Also, at about 8 p.m.on Monday, March 26, a locked vehicle parked at the Chun Bo chinese restaurant on Sparta Avenue had its window smashed and a laptop computer and leather bag were stolen (value $3382.00). Machuca was arrested and charged with the following related to the Newton Hospital vehicle burglary: criminal mischief, theft of moveable property, burglary. Machuca was also found to be in possession of a spring loaded window punch device for breaking windows along with several assorted screwdrivers, a flashlight and rubber gloves. He also possessed a Daisy CO 2 gas operated BB handgun in his vehicle. Therefore he was additionally charged with: possession of burglar’s tools and unlawful possession of a weapon. Police recovered a Motorola Radius hand-held radio with area police, fire, ambulance and emergency services frequencies. The radio was stolen from a vehicle that was parked at the Rockaway Mall in January 2007. For this he was additionally charged with: receiving stolen property, possession of an emergency communications device while committing a crime. The use of the window punch device was consistent with the burglaries at the college and on Sparta Avenue. Further investigation is continuing into those cases since the items stolen from them had not been recovered yet. Additionally, Machuca’s vehicle was captured on video surveillance near the victim’s vehicle at the Hospital at the time of the burglary there. Newton Police request anyone who may have been in the area of the college on Monday, March 26 at about 12:30 p.m.or the Chun Bo Chinese Restaurant on the same day at about 8 p.m. and may have witnessed something related to our investigation to please call the police. Further investigation by detectives into additional property recovered from the Machuca’s vehicle resulted in the identification of the owner of a Garmin GPS Navigation system. The owner who resides in West Milford reported that his car was burglarized by having the window smashed out while it was parked in Wayne Township on March 26. An East Brunswick woman was identified as the owner of a Tom-Tom GPS navigation device recovered from Machuca’s vehicle. Her vehicle was burglarized with the window being smashed out when parked in Pequannock on the same day. A Watchung man was identified as the owner of a Garmin Quest GPS navigation device that was recovered from Machuca’s vehicle. His vehicle was also burglarized with the window being smashed out when parked in Pequannock on March 26. A Bloomfield man was also identified as a recent victim of a car burglary in Wayne Township since his vehicle registration and insurance card were recovered in Machuca’s vehicle. Unfortunately none of the other property stolen from him was recovered. Machuca was additionally charged with three more counts of receiving stolen property for the GPS Navigation devices. Machuca was incarcerated in the Sussex County Jail in default of a total bail set at $60,000, no 10 percent,by Hon. Judge John E. Mulhern JMC. Additional criminal complaints may be filed as the investigation continues. Other recovered items believed to stolen are the following: Tom-Tom portable GPS navigation device, polaroid portable DVD player, Pyramid Pro Plus car stereo amplifier, Motorola cellular telephone, numerous music CD’s and cases, brown vinyl handbag Anyone with information or questions about any of the above described criminal activity is requested to contact the Newton Police Detective Bureau at 973-383-2525 or detectives@newtonpolice.org. Police hope to identify the owners of the remaining property recovered from Machuca’s vehicle so they can arrange for its return. Persons seeking to claim any property should be able provide proof of ownership and indication that a theft report was filed in the jurisdiction where the burglary or theft occurred.