'Mr. And Mrs. Grinch' Caught With Stolen Packages From 3 NJ Counties, Fair Lawn Cops Say

FAIR LAWN, NJ — A package-stealing pair whom police dubbed "Mr. and Mrs. Grinch" have now been captured and charged with 14 counts of theft, police in Bergen County said Wednesday.

Police said that they have so far recovered stolen packages from Bergen, Essex, and Passaic counties, listing eight towns.

Perla M. Abreu-Zorrilla, 35, of Clifton and Yamel De Los Santos De Leon, 24, of Passaic were charged Tuesday with a county of receiving stolen property and 14 counts of of theft of movable property, police said.

Police had posted a video on Tuesday with the tune "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch" in the background, showing that the couple took packages from porches, placed them into a "Nice grey SUV," and returned the ones that weren't up to par.

"Getting a job with Amazon or UPS would've been better," said police in the video. "I mean, they are hiring."

The Arrest

Police said that on Tuesday, just before 4:30 p.m., Officer Tiller Uriarte saw a 2024 gray Honda CRV in area of Morlot Avenue and First Street that resembled the one used in past crimes over the past two weeks.

Uriatrte stopped the Honda on Dewey Place, a dead-end road, police said.

Police saw multiple packages stacked up in the vehicle's rear, they said. Abrewu-Zorrilla was driving.

Police determined that the packages didn't belong to either person, they said.

The pair were arrested and taken to the Bergen County Jail.

"The packages will be returned to their respective owners," police noted.

Packages Recovered From 8 Towns

"I really don’t know how many times we have to say it so we’ll show it….(Don’t steal in Fair Lawn)," the police said, in a social media post with their video.

"You may have recognized this dynamic duo on the Neighbors Ring app. or Facebook," they wrote. "But tis’ the season and the duo earned the names, Mr. and Mrs. Grinch. They would take packages and get this, if they didn’t like what was inside they would leave that behind instead on someone else’s doorstep and leave in their gray SUV.."

Police said they recovered packages from these towns, besides Fair Lawn:

• East Rutherford
• Garfield
• Glen Ridge
• Montclair
• North Arlington
• Wallington
• Wayne
• West Orange

"I’m sure there will be more after this investigation is complete," police said in their post. "Remember if you see something say something!"

The video can be found here.