the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Leonia NJ, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella announced the arrests of ROBERT DIAZ (DOB: 9/30/84; single; marketing associate) of 1471 Great Neck Road, Copiague, NY and JOSE PICHARDO (DOB: 5/17/85; single; marketing associate) of 4037 97th Street, Corona, NY on identify theft and drug offenses. The arrest is the result of an investigation conducted by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office under the direction of Chief Jason Love.
On March 31, 2022, an investigation by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Narcotic Task Force revealed that ROBERT DIAZ and JOSE PICHARDO were in possession of cocaine and involved in stealing identities of unsuspecting victims. During this investigation, a search was conducted on PICHARDO’s vehicle in Leonia, NJ. That search revealed a sophisticated electronically operated hidden compartment in the vehicle’s dashboard. That hidden compartment contained cocaine and fourteen stolen credit cards from fourteen different victims. PICHARDO and DIAZ were arrested at the scene of the search.
ROBERT DIAZ and JOSE PICHARDO were each charged with second-degree trafficking in personal identifying information, N.J.S.A. 2C:21-17.b(1); third-degree possession of cocaine, N.J.S.A. 2C:35-10a(1); and fourth-degree credit card theft, N.J.S.A. 2C:21-6c(1). They were remanded to the Bergen County Jail pending their first appearances in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack, NJ.
Prosecutor Mark Musella states that the charges are merely accusations and that the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.