Police have also identified Jamar Bludson, 35, of Newark, as the passenger in the van who grabbed the satchel.
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Alton Harvey, 42, of Hillside, was arrested Wednesday after police traced a white van that was captured on surveillance video pulling up to the bag of cash that the ATM employees forgot outside a business in Mahwah, in northern New Jersey, on Monday. Police have not identified the company for security reasons and company officials have not responded to messages seeking comment.
He sets the satchel down and walks around to the back of his vehicle before getting in and taking off. The bag, filled with $10s and $20s, was left behind on the lawn, police said. One of those businesses was near where the satchel had been left, Batelli said. Harvey allegedly used the money to purchase a Chevy Tahoe SUV on the same day the theft occurred, said Chief James Batelli. The sticker price for that vehicle starts at $46,000 and he purchased it with cash.
Harvey told police he had been driving the van used in the theft and also admitted purchasing the Tahoe with part of the proceeds, Batellii said.
Police quickly ruled out the ATM employees as suspects and concentrated on finding the van.
Mahwah police detectives also determined that a Chevy Tahoe with temporary license plates seen in Irvington may have belonged to one of the people involved in the theft. State court records show he has pleaded guilty in Essex County over the years to charges including having a prohibited weapon, assault, theft, obstructing a government operation and two narcotics offenses.
Police watched the Tahoe and found and charged Harvey with theft of mislaid property, a second-degree crime, Batelli said.
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Harvey was held on $125,000 bail, charged with theft of mislaid property. “We will continue to assign personnel to look for Bludson and are confident he will be apprehended”, he said. Authorities ask that anyone who knows Bludson’s whereabouts to please contact the Mahwah Police Department at 201-529-1000.
