The second suspect from the January 5 burglary on Wayland Drive has been apprehended in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
According to the Verona Police Department, Hamid Travis, age 31, of Newark, had contact with the Scranton Police Department and a name check revealed an active warrant out of Verona. Verona detectives submitted extradition paperwork to the Essex County Prosecutors Office, which authorized Travis’ transport back to New Jersey. He was remanded to Lackawanna County Jail in Pennsylvania, and is awaiting transport back to the Essex County Correctional Facility, where he will be arraigned on Verona charges that include burglary, theft, conspiracy and fencing.
In the original burglary, two people kicked in a side door and ransacked the home, taking numerous items. The VPD’s Detective Bureau opened an investigation, which included speaking with Brookdale-area neighbors, who shared their security camera footage.
Verona detectives arrested the first suspect, 30-year-old Christopher Lassiter, in Newark on January 17. He was charged with burglary, theft, fencing and conspiracy. The VPD said at the time that both Lassiter and the second individual had “an extensive criminal arrest history.”
“Again, I cannot say enough about the Verona officers and Detective Bureau who have worked extremely hard on this case,” Chief Christopher Kieran said today in a statement on Travis’ arrest. “Their resolve led to a successful arrest of the two men responsible for one of the most invasive property crimes that someone can experience.”
All individuals mentioned in a police report are presumed innocent until they are are convicted in a court of law.
GOOD JOB VPD!