Skip to content

A town square for an unsquare town

redbankgreen

Standing for the vitality of Red Bank, its community, and the fun we have together.

CSI RED BANK: HOW THE CASE WAS MADE

Call_in_the_authoritiesSunday’s Asbury Park Press had a story that took a closer work at the detective work that led last month to the indictment of alleged Red Bank serial burglar Mauro Vasquez-Galvan.

The article focuses on the detailed effort to trace the origins of some 360 pieces of suspected booty found in the 26-year-old defendant’s apartment after police arrested him during a stakeout last June.

From the Press:

It was the extensive work of detectives, especially Sgts. Eliot Ramos and Michael Frazee, that authorities say uncovered the eight-month crime spree of Vasquez-Galvan, who initially stole items from cars, but then began burglarizing homes and photographing sleeping women.

“They did a great, great job,” said their boss, Capt. Stephen McCarthy. “It was good, solid police work on their part, but they went the extra step that made it possible to solve these cases and to bring a much stronger case against him.”

Last month, a grand jury handed up a 57-count indictment against Vasquez-Galvan, charging him with burglarizing and trying to break into homes and cars in the borough between October 2006 and June. He is also facing charges of theft, peering and invasion of privacy, according to the indictment.

They found more than 360 pieces of potential evidence, including electronics, jewelry and photographs, according to authorities.

Detectives hauled everything back to headquarters, where they photographed each item, noted make, model and serial numbers, and created a master list of evidence, police said.

Then the sergeants and four detectives divided up roughly 40 unsolved vehicle burglary cases. They compared the stolen items in those reports to the evidence list in the Vasquez-Galvan case to search for similarities, police said.

When they found a match, they called in victims and asked them if they could positively identify the property.

For example, some victims whose iPods had been stolen gave police the names of the songs on their play lists.

Police said they also sent a list of serial numbers to Apple, and the company contacted a few owners who had registered their iPods with warranty cards. The company advised those customers to call borough police.

Police said they did the same with other electronic items, including a satellite radio.

By August, police said they had enough evidence to charge Vasquez-Galvan with vehicle burglaries. Eighteen of those 19 victims were women, according to a news release issued when the borough man was indicted.

Next, detectives said they began sorting through the photographs that were in cameras, albums and a digital frame found at Vasquez-Galvan’s home.

Email this story

Remember: Nothing makes a Red Bank friend happier than to hear "I saw you on Red Bank Green!"
Partyline
RED TRUCKS AT RED ROCK
A small dishwasher fire at Red Rock Tap and Grill was put out quickly by firefighters overnight, causing minimal damage. Red Bank Fire Depar ...
CREATIVE COVER UP
The windows of Pearl Street Consignment on Monmouth Street were smashed when a driver crashed their car through them injuring an employee la ...
THEY’RE BACK!
Ospreys returned to the skies over Red Bank this week for the first time since they migrated to warmer climes in late fall. With temperature ...
SPRING IS SPRUNG
RED BANK: Spring 2024 arrives on the Greater Red Bank Green with the vernal equinox at 11:06 p.m. Tuesday.
RED BANK’S FINEST – AND NEWEST
Red Bank Police Officer Eliot Ramos was sworn in as the force’s newest patrolman Thursday, and if you’re doing a double take thinkin ...
EASTER EGG MAYHEM AT THE PARK
An errant whistle spurred an unexpectedly early start to the Spring Egg Hunt on Sunday, which had been scheduled to begin at eggsactly 11am ...
PRESEASON DOCKWORK
RED BANK: With winter winding down, marina gets ready for boating season with some dockwork on our beautiful Navesink River.
CORNED BEEF AND DISCO FRIES?
It’s Friday, and smart Lent-observing Leprechauns know the pot of gold at the end of Red Bank’s rainbow is actually the deliciou ...
SURFBOARD DITCHED
It’s a violation of etiquette in surfing to ditch your board.  (it could hit another surfer and hurt them). But someone appears to ha ...
ELSIE, TAKE ME WITH YOU!
Soaked by pouring rain with the temperature hovering in the low 40’s, this sign in the window of Elsie’s Subs on Monmouth Street ...
WALK THIS WAY
PARTYLINE: Before-and-afters of a sidewalk cleanup on West Street.
SOGGY NOTION
RED BANK: Breezeway sculpture captured the mood downtown as heavy rains fell Saturday morning.
HOME DELIVERY
RED BANK: After a subdivision, an instant house rises on a new Catherine Street lot.
COMMUNITY PROFILES
For Black History Month, Red Bank's Community Engagement and Equity Advisory Committee has been running a series of local profiles on Facebo ...
HEARTY FAREWELL FOR HARDY
RED BANK: Council to honor DPU supervisor Rich Hardy, who retired recently after almost 39 years of keeping things running.
HOMEBOUND? READ ON…
RED BANK: Can't get to the public library? It's now offering free delivery and pickups for homebound borough residents.
TAMING A BEAST OF A WEEK
RED BANK: After the second snowfall of the week, a borough family finds the perfect use for it – a Godzilla snow sculpture.
RED BANK: LIBRARY CLOSED, BUT THE HILL’S OPEN
RED BANK: Though the library was closed by a snowstorm, kids got to enjoy the riverfront property's steep slope Tuesday.
LIGHT(HOUSE) MAKEOVER
This year, getting ready for spring means a midwinter makeover for Strollo's Lighthouse in Red Bank.
TODAY: LOCAL PUPPY COMPETES ON ANIMAL PLANET’S “PUPPY BOWL”
Red Bank’s very own rescue puppy, Biscuit, is set to compete in Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl this Sunday, February 11, at 2 PM. Th ...