Lake Hiawatha Attempted Home Burglary Leads to 2 Arrests, Cops Say

Two men were arrested Monday after Parsippany police said they attempted to burglarize a Lake Hiawatha home.

Parsippany police responded to the Lakeshore Drive home and later, with help from Montville Police, arrested Robert Anderson, 34 of East Orange, and George Wayman, 33 of Newark. They were charged with burglary and criminal mischief and are being held in lieu of $25,000 bail in the Morris County jail. There was nothing reported missing from the home.

A person walking witnessed a possible burglary on the street and had called police so while officers headed over to the home, Parsippany Police Department‘s Communications Center broadcasted descriptions of the two men and their car to responding units and surrounding towns, according to police.

When the officer got to the home, he saw the back door of the house appeared to have been kicked in and no one was home.

He talked to the person who called the police about the burglary. The person said he saw an unfamiliar man walking into a neighbor’s yard, then heard a loud bang come before seeing the unfamiliar man back out of the yard and leave in a Ford Taurus with front-end damage. The person told the officer that he then saw the homeowners pull into their driveway and approach their home, so he shouted to the homeowners to not go into the house. 

Right after, the person told the officer that he saw a second man run out of the back of the home, scale the fence and run to the Ford Taurus, according to police. The car was last seen heading towards Montville.

While the officer was speaking to the witness, Montville Police quickly stopped a car on Route 202 in Montville that fit the description of the car. Parsippany Sgt. Eugene Natoli, Det. Thomas Lesiak and Capt. Sean Clark joined Montville Police at the stop in Montville.

The witness’ description of one of the two people allegedly involved matched the driver, Anderson, so Parsippany police arrested Anderson and brought him back to the Parsippany Police headquarters, according to police. At 5:10 p.m. the Montville police chief found a man who fit the description of the second person allegedly involved on Route 202 in Montville near the intersection of Route 202 and Route 287. Later identified as Wayman, the man was covered in mud and scratches and soaked with river water, according to police

The officers responded to the area and arrested Wayman before bringing him back to Parsippany Police Headquarters.