2 Men Nabbed In Connection With Chatham Burglary Case: Police

CHATHAM, NJ — Two men have been arrested and charged in a series of smash-and-grab burglaries across North Jersey, including one in Chatham, following a months-long investigation, police said.

The Bergen County Prosecutor's Office said that Kali J. Carter, 49, of East Orange, and Demetrius D. Hale, 49, of Bergenfield, were arrested last Thursday. They face charges related to a seven-month burglary spree that targeted a home in Chatham and at least 10 other towns in Bergen and Essex counties.

Prosecutors said the burglaries took place between December 2023 and June 2024.

Chatham Borough Police Chief Brian K. Gibbons said Carter and Hale broke into an unoccupied Chandler Road home on the evening of Jan. 15, making off with a stash of valuable jewelry.

The pair entered the home through the rear glass door and fled through the front door after several minutes when the home burglar alarm was activated, police said.

When local police reviewed the case, they found that the vehicle and suspect descriptions matched those from a series of similar burglaries across Bergen, Essex and Morris counties over the previous seven months.

"Based on a complex and diligent investigation that required physical surveillance, as well as a careful review of video footage and cellular phone records, detectives determined that Carter and Hale engaged in a burglary spree for almost seven months in Bergen, Essex, and Morris County, including 18 burglaries and an attempted burglary," prosecutors said.

Each man was charged with 16 counts of burglary and theft for incidents in Bergen County alone. After their arrest in Bergen County, they faced an additional 11 counts of burglary and theft-related offenses for crimes in Chatham, West Orange, Livingston, Verona and Parsippany.

Both men are being held at Bergen County Jail pending detention hearings.