Authorities: Gang Co-Founder Charged In Connection With Bergen County Burglaries
HACKENSACK, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- The founding member of a gang that has been burglarizing homes in affluent neighborhoods for years has been arrested, authorities in Bergen County said.
Bruce Anderson, 48, of Jamaica, Queens, a reputed member of the "James Bond" gang, is accused of participating in two dozen burglaries over six months, WCBS 880's Levon Putney reported. He is charged with fencing and complicity to commit fencing. Five other people were also named in a 24-count indictment.
"It generally is a high-end home with expensive vehicles, unoccupied," Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli said Thursday.
Authorities: Gang Co-Founder Charged In Connection With Bergen County Burglaries
The group has allegedly been operating in Bergen, Morris and Somerset counties in New Jersey and Rockland County in New York.
Molinelli said the gang uses high-tech equipment and plans escape routes. Members "cut the phone lines, leave a back door open and then ransack the house with lightning speed," the prosecutor said.
Molinelli said Anderson has been a repeat offender in Bergen County for years. He blamed state laws that deem home burglaries a third-degree offense with a maximum prison sentence of three to five years.
"To them, for being in jail for 11 months, 13 months, 16 months, that's the cost of doing business," the prosecutor said.
"They're more often than not model prisoners. They come out, and they go right back into its operation again."
