Cops: Man Caught After Fleeing, Stealing Scrap Metal

A Plainfield man was apprehended after he fled from officers when he was caught allegedly stealing scrap metal from a Hillsborough business, police said.

According to , Willian Morales-Sanchez, 31, of Plainfield, was charged wtih fourth-degree theft and fourth-degree resisting arrest by means of flight following a Jan. 6 incident at M&A Recycling on Old Camplain Road.

Police reported receiveing an alert about an activated burlgar alarm at the recycling center at 2:31 a.m. Upon arriving at the scene, officers reported observing two males on the property, allegedly attempting to steal scrap aluminum and copper by placing the items near the adjacent rail road tracks.

Hillsborough Police set up a perimeter and the initial responding officers attempted to apprehend the suspects. According to police, both allegedly fled in different directions, with one suspect running on the rail road tracks and the other running south onto an adjacent property. Officers pursued on foot, while other offices put in a K-9 request, which the South Bound Brook Police Department responded to.

Officers located the second suspect, identified as Morales-Sanchez, a short time later and reported that he allegedly fled into a large wooded area along Old Camplain Road. Officers converged in the area and used a thermal imaging camera to locate Morales-Sanchez under a large branch and leaves. Morales-Sanchez was taken into custody without further incident, police said.

Despite a continued search for the first suspect, he was not located, police said.

Morales-Sanchez was lodged in Somerset County Jail without bail.