The investigation stems from a home invasion reported at approximately 4:50 a.m. on Dec. 31 on Julia Court in Washington Township, where masked individuals entered a home through a rear window while the resident was inside, Chief Arsenio Pecora said. The suspects were searching for car keys but fled after hearing the homeowner, exiting through the same window and left in a dark-colored four-door sedan.
Detectives later linked the incident to a burglary at 5:30 that morning in Leonia, where suspects entered a home on Summit Avenue through an unlocked door, stole keys to a Range Rover, and fled in both the SUV and the same dark-colored sedan, Leonia Police Chief Scott Tamagny said. License plate reader cameras captured both vehicles on Broad Avenue and later on Fort Lee Road heading toward the New Jersey Turnpike, Tamagny said. The sedan was identified as a stolen 2019 BMW out of Bloomfield, and the Range Rover was later tracked traveling through Irvington and Newark.
Investigators used ALPR data and communications warrants to identify five phones present at multiple burglary locations, including Washington Township, Leonia, Nutley, and Wayne, authorities said. Similar incidents were also reported in Passaic and Essex counties. Following the investigation, Alquadir Hester and Ameer Hester-Hall, both of Newark, and Dupree Turner, of East Orange, were charged along with a juvenile whose name was not released, police said…