3 Counts of Attempted Burglary Results in Dismissals and Town Ordinance

Burglary Charges

Our Hudson County criminal lawyers recently represented a man who had been arrested by Kearny police for 3 counts of burglary and attempted burglary after he was caught trying to enter three different parked vehicles. According to the police report, the officer was on patrol when he noticed the defendant looking into windows of parked vehicles. He then observed him begin pull the front driver’s side handles of three cars in an attempt open them. At this point the police stopped the defendant and asked him if any of those vehicles belonged to him and he said “No”. At that point police immediately placed him under arrest for criminal attempt to commit burglary. Unfortunately, our client, just like many people, did not realize that entering another’s car without their permission with the purpose to commit a crime within is actually considered a burglary just like entering someone’s house for the same purpose.

After being retained and speaking with our client it became evident that this may be a situation where alcohol lead to bad judgement and not serious criminal activity. However, there was no mistaking that the criminal charges were serious as he faced 3 different 3rd degree indictable crimes each carrying 3 – 5 years in state prison, if convicted. Our client was a former military man with no prior record and so we felt very strongly that we could not let a nightmare scenario like that happen to him. So when we initially appeared in the Hudson County Superior Court for a CJP court date, our attorneys were able to speak with the assistant prosecutor and have the charges downgraded and remanded back down to municipal court, which was a huge win right off the bat. From there we continued to fight the case down in municipal court and challenged the state’s evidence whether they could actually prove the intent to commit a burglary even assuming the police actually saw what they think they saw. After some intense negotiations back and forth, the state eventually agreed to dismiss two of the counts outright and downgrade the third to a local town ordinance which did not result in a criminal conviction. Our client was extremely happy to walk out of court with his record in tact and to avoid any jail time. If you or your loved has been charged or arrested for a similar situation, an experienced Kearny burglary attorney may be able to help. Contact our office today for a free consultation where we can answer your questions and address your concerns.

State v. K.P. decided August 24, 2017