Wayne girl helps foil neighborhood crime

<p>A 9-year-old Passaic County girl is being credited with helping to catch a trio of alleged criminals.</p>

News 12 Staff

Jan 19, 2018, 3:33 AM

Updated 2,296 days ago

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A 9-year-old Passaic County girl is being credited with helping to catch a trio of alleged criminals.
Sydney Monello was home from school on a snow day Wednesday and spotted three men outside her house. She says that she knew that they didn’t belong and became suspicious.
"When my instincts tell me that something doesn't feel right, then I believe my instincts,” she says.
Sydney says that it was around 12:30 p.m. and she noticed a black Honda Civic and three men hanging by her driveway. She didn't like it and called her parents at work.
“She FaceTimed [her dad] and she was freaking out a little bit,” her mom Claudia says. "We were like its OK you're being dramatic. No big deal, maybe they broke down or something."
But Sydney says that she was still not convinced and she continued to watch the men.
“I put the window down like this and I had like a piece so I could see them,” she says.
She then saw the men move to the front of the house, and since no one in the family was taking her seriously, she says that she decided to send her dog out to scare the men away.
The men left, but didn’t go far. They soon returned to the home and took packages that had been delivered off the porch next door.
Police say that the three men had stolen the credit card information of the homeowner, bought stuff online and were picking it up at the house which was foreclosed.
"They were watching on their phones, so they’re watching the delivery as they are getting alerts from the delivery service,” says Wayne Police Captain Laurence Martin.
Police were able to track the car and found Thafoux Felix, Taliek Jones and Devellis Benjamin allegedly with the stolen packages and another package from a home in Springfield.
The three men were charged with receiving stolen property and credit card fraud.


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