Criminal Admits 'Stripping' Cars In Washington Twp. 3 Years Later: Cops

LONG VALLEY, N.J. – Good things come to those who wait.

For the Washington Township Police Department, that waiting took nearly four years.

Police have charged a Paterson man with a slew of offenses after D.N.A. samples connected him to a crime that took place at the Hackettstown Honda in July 2012.

On Feb. 18, 2016, Det. Cpl. Brian Bigham along with Det. Sgt. Sanchez from Mt. Olive charged Joel Ortiz, 30, with criminal mischief, criminal attempt for theft, and obstruction while he was already incarcerated in Northern State Prison, Lt. Doug Compton said.

See related: Police: Man Flees Dealership, Damaged Cars

On July 7, 2012, Officer Robert Brobst was conducting a property check of the Honda Dealership on Route 46 when he found multiple people stripping vehicle parts off vehicles in the rear of the dealership, Compton said. The suspects fled the scene and a search with a K9 unit and New Jersey State Police helicopter turned up no one.

An investigation revealed three pairs of latex gloves at the scene which were submitted to the state police D.N.A. lab, but no matches were found in the state’s system, Compton said.

More than three years later, a D.N.A. match confirmed a possible match for Ortiz from a prior arrest, Compton said.

Police then interviewed Ortiz at the prison, where he allegedly confessed to stripping the vehicles at the Honda Dealership and confessed to being a part of a ring that was involved with stripping vehicles, burglaries, and stealing motor vehicles in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, Compton said.