Man Wore Girdle To Steal $6K In J. Crew Items From Mall In Bergen County: Police

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — Police arrested a man and woman after catching them with $6,000 in stolen J. Crew clothes outside a mall in Paramus last week, they said.

Diego Munoz-Parra, 43, and Maria Munoz-Parra, 41, both of East Elmhurst, N.Y. were arrested by Paramus police on March 20, they said.

Shortly after 2:30 p.m., detectives from the Organized Retail Crime Unit were conducting surveillance on a vehicle suspected of involvement in shoplifting incidents, police say.

Detective Matt McGuire saw a man and woman repeatedly traveling between the J.Crew store and a Mazda parked in the mall parking lot, police say.

After approximately 45 minutes of surveillance, the pair left the mall once again, police say.

Detective McGuire noticed that the man had a large bulge under his clothing.

Detective Lt. Jack Cacamis and Detective McGuire approached the suspects at their car.

They saw that the man was wearing a girdle-style bodysuit under his clothing, containing stolen items.

Police recovered $6,093.30 in stolen merchandise from J.Crew, they said.

Both were charged with receiving stolen property, organized retail theft, and possession of burglary tools, police said.

Both were taken to the Bergen County Jail, Police Chief Robert Guidetti said.