Police in Newark are reporting the arrest of Mr. Leonardo Aquino, 34, of Newark, in connection with the theft of four automatic teller machines between November 22, 2020 and December 12, 2020.
Police say members of the Newark Police Robbery Unit investigated the thefts. The first occurred at 111 Lincoln Avenue, where an ATM machine was stolen at 12:45 a.m.
Police say they observed two males on surveillance camera entering the laundry room and using a saw to loosen the cash machine from its base before carrying the machine out of the laundry room.
The second incident occurred on December 8th, outside Speedy Tires, at 274 Adams Street.
Four men arrived at the location in a green pickup truck just before 3:30 a.m. and stole the ATM.
On December 11th, Police responded to Magua Mini Mart, located at 137 Park Avenue, to investigate the theft of the store’s ATM, cash from the register, other cash from inside the store and four cartons of cigarettes.
Police observed on surveillance camera three suspects arrive at the store in a 4-door silver Audi at approximately 12:40 a.m. Two of the suspects cut the padlocks from the outside gates and entered the store to commit the theft.
The last theft occurred on December 12th at Gentlemen’ Barbershop, located at 133 Elm Street.
Two male suspects arrived at the location at 1:30 a.m., also in 4-door silver Audi. The suspects entered the barbershop, stole the ATM and placed it in the backseat of the Audi, which was reported stolen out of Linden.
Robbery detectives identified Leonardo Aquino as a suspect in all four thefts and he was arrested on December 20, 2020. Aquino faces charges of burglary, theft, receiving stolen property, conspiracy to commit burglary and possession of burglary tools.
The investigation remains active and is ongoing. Director Ambrose urges anyone with information about other suspects involved in these burglaries and thefts to call the Division's 24-hour Crime Stopper tip line at 1-877-NWK-TIPS (1-877-695-8477). All anonymous Crime Stopper tips are kept confidential and could result in a reward.