Detectives from the Paramus Police Department’s Organized Retail Crime Unit were watching a suspicious vehicle in the mall parking lot on Thursday, March 20, around 2:40 p.m., when they noticed the suspects going back and forth between the car and the store, according to Paramus Police Chief Robert Guidetti, who did not name the mall.
Detective Matt McGuire observed a male and female continuously driving between the J.Crew store and a Mazda parked in the mall parking lot, “displaying behavior consistent with retail theft activity,” according to the department.
Following approximately 45 minutes of observation, the two exited the mall again. McGuire saw that the male suspect had “a distinct large bulge under his clothing.”
Detective Lt. Jack Cacamis and Detective McGuire approached the suspects at their vehicle and discovered the man — identified as Diego Munoz-Parra, 43 — wearing a girdle-style bodysuit filled with stolen items, according to the chief.
The recovered goods totaled $6,093.30 and were all from J.Crew, according to Guidetti.
The charges against Munoz-Parra and Maria Munoz-Parra, both 41, included second-degree organized retail theft, third-degree receiving stolen property, and disorderly individuals possessing burglary tools.
Both suspects were placed into the Bergen County Jail for their court appearance.