Police Blotter: Burglaries, Attempted Credit Card Fraud

investigated several burglaries – of businesses, a home and a vehicle in the last week. They also made arrests in a shoplifting case and in the case of two men allegedly trying to install illegal credit card readers on gas pumps at the Sunoco on Millburn Avenue that could have resulted in the theft of identity and credit card numbers. 

The following is a weekly roundup of the major activities of the Millburn Police Department:

• On the morning of Feb. 7, the Millburn Police Department responded to two Millburn Avenue office buildings on reports of several burglaries. On scene it was determined that someone had broken into seven offices, mostly doctor’s offices and stolen computers. These crimes occurred during the previous night.

• On Feb. 7 at 1:01 p.m., the Millburn Police Department hours are 10:30 p.m. and 1 p.m. someone broke a rear back door window to get inside the home.  Residents are still determining all that was taken. A neighbor noticed two white males wearing black glasses talking on their cell phones in a gray car during the timeframe the crime was committed.

• On  Feb. 7, a Randolph resident came to the Millburn Police Department to report that between 5:30 p.m. and 9:45 p.m. someone committed a burglary to his 2012 BMW while it was parked at The Mall at Short Hills. Taken from the vehicle was a purse, and miscellaneous clothing.

• On Feb. 9, the Millburn Police Department responded to Saks Fifth Avenue – The Mall at Short Hills on a report of a female being detained. An investigation concluded with the arrest of Diror Williams East Orange on charges of shoplifting more than $250 in various clothing and trying to exit the store.  Williams was processed and released pending her court hearing.

• On Feb. 10 at 2:01 p.m., Officer Anthony Catinella pulled over a driver on Old Short Hills Road who he’d seen speeding downtown on Millburn Avenue.  The investigation resulted in 50-year-old Mindy Berkowitz of Short Hills being arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated.  After processing, Berkowitz was released pending her court hearing. 

• While on patrol overnight Friday to Saturday,  officers Steve Nacim and Sean Cassels observed two men found  at 3 a.m. in the parking lot of the Sunoco Gas Station at 500 Millburn Avenue.  The investigation revealed that the two men, both Russian nationals, were attempting to install credit card skimmers on the gas pumps.  These devices, if they had been successfully installed, would covertly record and allow unauthorized people with credit card information from customers; allowing the suspects to commit credit card fraud and possibly identity theft. Ratmir K.Alikhanov and Miron A. Ikaev, both 23 years old and from Brooklyn, New York, were arrested. This matter remains under investigation with the Millburn Police Department and the United States Immigration Customs and Enforcement Bureau.  Both men are being held at the Essex County Jail in Newark.

These crimes and others are being investigated by the Millburn Police Department Detective Bureau, if any party has any additional information, they are asked to contact the Millburn Police Department Detective Bureau at (973) 564-7017.