An alleged serial burglar who authorities say left a glove behind at one house and used his real ID to sell jewelry taken from another was arrested by Middletown police Tuesday.
Lieutenant Steve Dollinger, the department spokesman, says in a news announcement today that Manuel Cortez, 50, was busted on charges of breaking into three township residences over the course of six months.
Here’s the full text of the statement:
On December 7, 2010 Det. William Strohkirch and Dfc. Adam Finck arrested Manuel Cortez, Age 50, from Compass Lane in Barnegat, NJ for committing multiple residential burglaries in Middletown over a six month period. Cortez was located and arrested at his residence with the assistance of the Barnegat Police Department.
On June 16, 2010 police responded to a burglary at a residence on Spradley Lane in Middletown during which jewelry was stolen from the home. Police located a glove left behind by the actor and sent it to the New Jersey State Police Lab to be tested for possible DNA. The State Police Lab was able to find DNA which identified Cortez as the burglar.
On November 30, 2010 police responded to a burglary at a residence on Newman Springs Road in Lincroft during which jewelry was stolen once again. Police were able to locate the jewelry at a local jewelry store which purchased the items from Cortez. Cortez was required to show his driver’s license to the store prior to the purchase. The store photocopied the driver’s license along with the items he sold. The victim was able to identify the jewelry as that which was stolen from his home.
The detectives continued their investigation and were able to link Cortez to another residential burglary which occurred on West Roosevelt Circle in Middletown.
Cortez was charged with three counts of Burglary and three counts of Theft. He was being held on $45,000.00 with a 10% option set by Judge Richard Thompson.
