MORRIS COUNTY — Morris County Prosecutor Fredric M. Knapp, Chief of Investigations Stephen F. Wilson Jr., and Harding Township Police Chief Erik J. Heller announce the arrest of an individual as the result of an investigation into a residential burglary in Harding Township.
On August 20, the Harding Township Police Department received a report of a burglary to a residence where approximately $40,000 worth of jewelry and other high value personal property was stolen.
Police commenced an investigation and as a direct result of critical information obtained from a citizen witness, members of the Harding Township Police Department and the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office Special Operations Division, Intelligence Unit identified a suspect.
On September 16, members of the Bay Harbor Island Police Department (Florida), along with the New York City Police Department, apprehended Rodrigo Astete, 28, of Chile, for an active arrest warrant out of Florida for a residential burglary that they were investigating parallel to the Morris County investigation.
While the suspect was in custody, the Harding Township Police Department obtained an arrest warrant for Rodrigo Astete for one count of third degree burglary and one count of third degree theft by unlawful taking stemming from the residential burglary in Harding Township on August 20.
Rodrigo Astete is currently lodged in New York and is was awaiting extradition to Florida for an alleged string of burglaries committed in South Florida. Following the suspect’s prosecution for the burglaries in Florida, the suspect is expected to be extradited to Morris County to face the burglary and theft charges.
Editors Note: A criminal complaint is merely an accusation. Despite this accusation, the defendant is presumed innocent until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
