Two men are sitting in the Bergen County Jail in connection with a string of GPS thefts from automobiles from Carlstadt to South Hackensack thanks to vigilant employees at one local business and a thorough investigation by police.

According to Detective Sergeant Anthony Bellina of the Carlstadt Police Department, 43-year-old Jose Hernandez of Brooklyn, NY and 39-year-old Samuel Hernandez of Union City were arrested near the Moonachie border on June 7 in connection with several thefts from motor vehicles. An employee at BDI Laguna at 350 Starke Road alerted police that they had seen a vehicle in their lot that had previously been described by police as the possible car driven by two suspects in a rash of GPS thefts in the industrial section of town.

"We had been doing surveillance down there in unmarked cars, in regular clothes because we had a description of the vehicle through surveillance video taken of previous break-ins," said Bellina. "It was a red beat-up four-door Honda. It was seen almost everyday during lunchtime."

Bellina said a description was given of the vehicle to both BDI Laguna and a business at 777 Central Blvd. Where another GPS theft had taken place and on June 7, BDI notified police that they had once again seen it. Both Bellina and Detective Dave Smith responded to find the car. A unit from Moonachie also responded. Both caught up with the Honda on West Commercial Avenue in Moonachie where both Hernandez’s were brought in for questioning.

"They basically admitted to the thefts, we would take them to the locations and they admitted to them," said Bellina. "They said they were heroin addicts and stole the units for their fix. They would drive to Brooklyn and sell the units on the street for $100."

Carlstadt wound up charging both men with theft for two GPS thefts at BDI Laguna and one at 777 Central Blvd. Moonachie and South Hackensack followed suit with charges as well after an alert went out to several municipalities to identify the men as possible suspects in GPS thefts that are taking place in seemingly every town in the region.

"They said how easy it was, they would just pick up a rock and throw it through the window, snatch the unit and be on their merry way," said Bellina. "There’s only so much we can do, people have to learn not to leave these things in plain site."

Both Hernandez’s, who are not related, were remanded to the Bergen County Jail on $750,000 bail. As of press deadline, Bellina said they were unable to post the bail.