Somerset County Man Arrested For Multiple Car Break-Ins And Fires

A North Plainfield man was arrested on Tuesday after stealing a wallet from a vehicle parked on Greenbrook Road - it was later found that the same man was responsible for multiple break-ins and car fires in the area. 

According to the Somerset County Prosector's Office: 

Prosecutor Geoffrey D. Soriano and North Plainfield Chief of Police William Parenti 
announce the arrest of Jawan King, age 20, L.K.A. Fisk Place, North Plainfield, 
N.J.

Prosecutor Soriano states that on July 1, 2014 North Plainfield Police were notified that a 1998 Mitsubishi Galant was burglarized on Greenbrook Road. The owner advised responding officers that a wallet containing credit cards was removed from the vehicle.

Later in the day, one of the stolen credit cards was used at a 7-11 convenience tore on Route 22 West in North Plainfield and at the Ivory Tower Motor Inn in Green Brook. 

Subsequent to viewing the convenience store’s video surveillance tape, 
defendant King was identified as the individual who used the stolen card. 
Detectives made contact with defendant King at the motel, and the defendant 
gave detectives consent to search his motel room—the very room which he acquired through the utilization a stolen credit card. 

The search resulted in the seizure of 2 credit cards and a New Jersey driver’s license that were stolen from recent car burglaries in North Plainfield.

The investigation revealed that defendant King burglarized an additional 8 motor 
vehicles and set fire to 3 of the vehicles from June 27th to July 1, 
2014 in the Borough of North Plainfield.  

The aforementioned burglaries included the following - 

June 27, 2014:

•  2011 Honda SUV parked 
  on Jefferson Avenue, theft of $1.50    

June 30, 2014:  

• 2011 Mazda SUV and a 
  Toyota both parked on Cedar Street    

• 2001 Honda Civic parked on Mountainview Avenue, not finding any 
  valuables, defendant ignited a roll of paper towels on the driver’s seat.

• 2003 Nissan Frontier SUV parked on Mountainview Avenue, removed a 
  credit card and ignited the front passenger seat.

• 2008 Mazda 3 parked on Oakridge Avenue, removed the owners driver’s license.

July 1, 2014:

• 2002 Nissan Altima parked in a residential driveway off of Mountainview 
  Avenue. Defendant ignited a box of tissues on the rear seat of the vehicle.

• 1998 Mitsubishi Galant parked on Greenbrook Road, removed owner’s wallet containing his driver’s license and credit card.

• 2003 Chrysler mini-van, theft of  $.45

Defendant King was charged with 9 counts of Burglary, 3rd Degree, 3 counts of 
Arson, 2nd Degree, 2 counts of Credit Card Theft, 4th Degree and 2 counts of Credit Card Fraud, 3rd Degree.

Defendant King was lodged in the Somerset County Jail with bail set by the Honorable Robert Reed, J.S.C. in the amount of $150,000 cash only.

Note: 
We are required by the Rules of Court to 
include herein a statement explaining that the charges are merely an accusation 
and that the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.