Saddle Brook Police Nab Alleged Scrap Metal Thieves

Saddle Brook police charged four New York City men with theft Monday morning after an officer spotted them removing scrap metal from the remains of an abandoned N. Fifth Street toy factory, police said.

Kelvin Plasencia-Ortega, 26, of Bronx, N.Y.; Pablo Diaz, 54, of New York, N.Y.; Dario Ruben Diaz, 40, of New York, N.Y.; and Felix Perez-Nunez, of New York, N.Y. were charged with criminal trespass and theft of movable property.

Officer Scott Habermann noticed two white vans in the parking lot next to the burned-out Amloid Toy Factory -- which caught fire during Superstorm Sandy -- and four men walking away from large piles of building debris, according to police reports.

Upon further investigation, Habermann and Officer David DeGennaro ascertained that the men had been loading scrap metal from the site into the vans with the intention of redeeming it for cash at a scrap metal yard, police said.

The men admitted they had not received permission from the property's owner to take the metal and returned it to the site, police said.

All four men were issued summonses and released on their own recognizance. They are scheduled to appear in municipal court on Feb. 20.

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