Jim Walsh

@jimwalsh_cp

It's the tourism trade no one wants.

Police say out-of-state criminals are traveling to South Jersey to rob and steal from local residents and merchants.

"Just like you and I get up for work every day, so do these individuals," said Mount Laurel Police Lt. Stephen Riedener, who compared the visitors to commuters.

"The difference is that their job is to commit crime and some of them are very good at it."

Federal authorities announced the arrests Friday of two Pennsylvania brothers, Jose and Eliezer Medina, who allegedly traveled from Lancaster County to crack the safes of at least three New Jersey businesses between November 2013 and August 25. The last victim was an unidentified firm in Pennsauken — some 70 miles from the suspects' homes — that lost $203,000,

According to Mount Laurel police, two New York men allegedly burglarized multiple vehicles outside fitness centers, then used stolen credit cards at local stores.

Rodney Desvarieux, 29, of Brooklyn, and 35-year-old Andrew Williams, of Long Island, were arrested Nov. 6 as they left a Target store. A store employee had called police after recognizing them from an earlier incident at the Centerton Road store.

"The two were in possession of credit cards that had been reported stolen in Cherry Hill just hours earlier," police said, adding the men had purchased items worth $780.

Cherry Hill police made a similar bust one day earlier, arresting four Brooklyn residents after an alleged fraud at a Rite Aid store.

The four — Christopher R. Jean-Louis, Jomani M. Graham, Aaron Sylvester and Nathaniel Nelson — were charged with credit card theft and conspiracy.

"You're starting to see more credit card-related crime," observed Cherry Hill Police Sgt. Richard Humes, who noted traveling criminals have been a longtime concern for law enforcement.

According to Riedener, Mount Laurel attracts out-of-town criminals "for the same reason that many people choose to live, shop and do business here — for the convenience."

He noted shopping centers and hotels, easily reached by interstate highways, offer "a whole host of criminal opportunities."

"The crimes we experience from out-of-town criminals are varied, but theft-related crimes are the most common," Riedener added.

"We have also had large thefts from stores that sell cellphones, like Verizon and Sprint," he said. "Investigations into these crimes suggest that the criminals are organized groups who travel significant distances to commit their crimes."

Mount Laurel police this month arrested two Rochester, New York, men in connection with a smash-and-grab robbery at a Verizon store in October 2013. Authorities allege Tariq Hicks, 35, and Michael Owens, 28, were part of a group that took more than $75,000 worth of cellphones from the Route 73 store.

A third Rochester man, Ricardo L. Oliver, 25, was arrested by Mount Laurel police on the night of the crime.

Police believe suspects also will travel a distance to commit smaller crimes. Cherry Hill police on Nov. 4 arrested a man from Frederica, Delaware — a town about 100 miles south — after he allegedly tried to leave a Route 70 Target store with concealed merchandise worth $1,500.

The suspect, Joshua Robbins, was charged with shoplifting.

"We recently interviewed an out-of-town thief who stole from parked cars," Riedener said. "He told us that he used his GPS to find large suburban housing developments close to highways.

"These areas provided him with a large number of unlocked parked cars with a quick escape route."

The lieutenant said merchants can improve the odds of catching criminals if stores have good video surveillance and "robust" loss prevention programs.

"It is also a great help if the police are called at the time the crime is occurring and not after the suspects have left the area."

Among other precautions, residents should lock vehicles and avoid keeping valuables in their cars.

"Don't leave valuables or credit cards in vehicles; don't leave a purse unattended in a shopping cart, even for a second," Riedener added. "And don't sling a purse over the back of a chair in a restaurant."

Reach Jim Walsh at jwalsh@courierpostonline.com or (856) 486-2646. Follow him on Twitter @jimwalsh_cp.