A newspaper delivery man has been arrested for allegedly stealing packages that had been left outside New Jersey homes.
Brian Torres-Malaga, 21, of Paterson, was charged Thursday with third-degree theft. He is employed by an outside vendor that delivers The Record, according to the newspaper. Torres-Malaga was not a North Jersey Media Group employee, an NJMG spokeswoman told NJ.com.
Police launched an investigation Sunday after a Wyckoff resident reported three packages had been stolen from her front porch. Surveillance footage from the area led detectives to Torres-Malaga, who works with his mother delivering The Record in the early morning hours, authorities said.
Authorities began monitoring Torres-Malaga's activities. On Thursday, police stopped a car driven by his mother — Torres-Malaga was in the backseat — on Lafayette Avenue. Torres-Malaga was arrested and charged with theft.
Police say his mother is believed to have had knowledge of the package thefts, but she has not been charged in the case.
Several packages believed to have been stolen from Wyckoff homes were recovered from Torres-Malaga's Paterson home, but there were no shipping labels to identify the owners, police said.
Any Wyckoff homeowners who are missing packages that they believe had been delivered are asked to call the Wyckoff Police Department at 201-891-2121.
The vendor said Torres-Malaga no longer works with the company. It wasn't immediately clear if he had an attorney who could comment on the allegations.
