Police Employee Helped Thieves Target Morris Co. Luxury Cars, Prosecutors Say

MORRIS COUNTY, NJ — Several suspects, including a Newark Police Department employee, have been arrested following a car theft/burglary ring investigation in and around Morris County, according to the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office.

According to police, the suspects were involved in acts of residential burglary, motor vehicle theft, fencing, receiving stolen motor vehicles, and computer criminal activity.

An investigation revealed that between September 2024 and December 2024, Tyshawn Hoover, Samad Foster, Deeend Coleman-McRae, Zayanna Overby, a juvenile, and other “yet to be identified co-conspirators” were involved in a conspiracy spanning multiple North Jersey jurisdictions, police said.

Hoover and Foster are believed by police to be the “leaders” of the crime ring, according to authorities.

An investigation placed Hoover, Foster, and Coleman-McRae in the area of a Sept. 20, 2024, residential burglary/vehicle theft in Florham Park, which involved two suspects entering the victim’s residence, removing a key for a 2023 Land Rover, and stealing the vehicle, according to authorities. Hoover is also thought to have fenced the stolen Land Rover afterwards, police added.

Hoover and Foster are also accused of a burglary/attempted vehicle theft in Florham Park on Nov. 20, 2024. The pair tried to steal a locked 2022 Honda Civic and broke the window of the owner’s residence, attempting to steal the car’s key, police said. They were interrupted and fled the scene, according to authorities.

Hoover, along with “members of his auto theft trafficking network,” is also accused of having been in the area of a residential burglary and car theft in West Orange on Nov. 20, 2024. Messages show he was attempting to fence a Mercedes-Benz GLE that was stolen in West Orange, police said.

Further investigation revealed that Foster had been providing a Newark Police Department civilian employee, later identified as Zayannah Overby, with license plates of luxury vehicles, police said.

Overby is accused of using her employee credentials to identify what addresses were associated with the luxury cars so they could be stolen and fenced, according to prosecutors.

Additionally, Overby ran the license plate of a Land Rover registered to the Florham Park home that was subject to the attempted residential burglary/attempted vehicle theft on Nov. 20, 2024, with “no lawful request to do such,” police said.

Further investigation found that Hoover and a juvenile had stolen an unlocked, running BMW M5 in Denville on Dec. 5, 2024, authorities said.

During the investigation, police executed a search warrant for a residence in Hillside, where Coleman-McRae and Jameer D. Smith were found to be in possession of cocaine and heroin, officials said.

Cops also found two handguns, two large capacity firearm magazines, drug distribution paraphernalia, and around $7,060 in suspected drug money at the Hillside residence.

See the list of suspects and their charges of varying degrees below, provided by the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office:

Tyshawn Z. Hoover, 24, of Newark:

• Conspiracy to Commit Residential Burglary, Motor Vehicle Theft, Fencing, Receiving Stolen Motor Vehicles & Computer Criminal Activity
• Leader of an Auto Theft Trafficking Network
• Use of a Juvenile in Theft of Auto
• Motor Vehicle Theft
• Fencing
• Criminal Attempt/Residential Burglary
• Criminal Attempt/Motor Vehicle Theft
• Burglary
• Two counts of Receiving a Stolen Motor Vehicle
• Criminal Mischief

Samad A. Foster, 29, of Newark:

• Conspiracy to Commit Residential Burglary, Motor Vehicle Theft, Fencing, Receiving Stolen Motor Vehicles & Computer Criminal Activity
• Leader of an Auto Theft Trafficking Network
• Motor Vehicle Theft
• Criminal Attempt/Residential Burglary
• Criminal Attempt/Motor Vehicle Theft
• Burglary (residential burglary committed before October 18, 2024)
• Two counts of Receiving a Stolen Motor Vehicle
• Criminal Mischief

Deeend T. Coleman-McRae, 25, of Hillside, has been charged in Morris and Union counties with:

• Conspiracy to Commit Residential Burglary, Motor Vehicle Theft, Fencing, Receiving Stolen Motor Vehicles & Computer Criminal Activity
• Motor Vehicle Theft
• Conspiracy to Distribute CDS
• Possession of a Firearm While Committing a CDS Offense
• Possession with Intent to Distribute Heroin
• Possession with Intent to Distribute Cocaine
• Participant of an Auto Theft Trafficking Network
• Burglary (residential burglary committed before October 18, 2024)
• Receiving a Stolen Motor Vehicle
• Possession of Heroin
• Possession of Cocaine
• Money Laundering
• Possession of a Defaced Firearm
• Possession of a Large Capacity Magazine
• Possession of Drug Paraphernalia with Intent to Distribute

Zayannah T. Overby, 22, of Newark, has been charged in Morris and Essex counties with:

• Conspiracy to Commit Residential Burglary, Motor Vehicle Theft, Fencing, Receiving Stolen Motor Vehicles & Computer Criminal Activity
• Computer Criminal Activity
• Participant of an Auto Theft Trafficking Network
• Criminal Attempt/Residential Burglary
• Criminal Attempt/Motor Vehicle Theft
• Receiving a Stolen Motor Vehicle
• Criminal Mischief

Jameer D. Smith, 25, of Newark, has been charged in Union County with:

• Conspiracy to Distribute CDS
• Possession of a Firearm While Committing a CDS Offense
• Possession with Intent to Distribute Heroin
• Possession with Intent to Distribute Cocaine
• Possession of Heroin
• Possession of Cocaine
• Money Laundering
• Possession of a Defaced Firearm
• Possession of a Large Capacity Magazine
• Possession of Drug Paraphernalia with Intent to Distribute

Hoover and Foster are detained in the Essex County Jail awaiting court proceedings. Smith is detained in the Union County Jail pending a motion for pretrial detention. Coleman-McRae was lodged in the Morris County Jail to await court proceedings. Overby was released under the conditions of Pre-Trial Monitoring Level II, officials said.

“As I said last autumn with the signing of new legislation increasing the penalties for home invasions, the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office is taking the concerns expressed by the public and our municipal police chiefs seriously – burglars entering homes has eroded residents’ sense of safety,” Morris County Prosecutor Robert Carroll said in a statement. “We will not hesitate to aggressively use the expanded burglary law when appropriate to hold those who violate the sanctity of our residents’ homes accountable. Our shared goal is to also deter the recruitment of juveniles into criminal organizations, which has become a serious problem.”