One of the three men who reportedly broke into the Kearny Avenue Exxon station and burgled it of its ATM machine (with $1,000 in cash in it) early Nov. 29 is in custody and facing a slew of serious charges just a day later, Det. John Fabula, the investigating officer on the case, told The Observer.
Ruben Gonzalez, 19, whose last known address was in Newark, was taken into custody by Newark police on Nov.29, after officers in the Newark PD’s 7th Precinct found him in possession of yet another stolen vehicle, this time a Porsche taken from Muttontown Village, New York. After the burglary, Gonzalez and his cohorts reportedly fled in a Range Rover stolen in Franklin Lakes.
Fabula was able to identify Gonzalez based on the clothes he wore in the burglary. Oh, and he also had the key to the aforementioned stolen Range Rover on him when Newark cops picked him up.
Fabula charged Gonzalez with third-degree burglary, third-degree theft, third-degree conspiracy, second-degree receiving stolen property and fourth-degree criminal mischief. Gonzalez was remanded to the Essex County Correctional Facility based on the charges he faced in Newark.
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Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, an organization he has served since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on social media channels such as YouTube, Facebook, and X, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to Kearny to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.