Burglar Guilty of Breaking Into Bridgewater Home

By Mike Deak

A Bergen County man was found guilty Tuesday of burglarizing a Hodge Drive, Bridgewater home in April 2011.

It took less than two hours for a Superior Court jury in Somerville to find Jerry Montgomery, 32, of Teaneck guilty on charges of burglary, theft and criminal mischief.

Montgomery, when he is sentenced in August by Superior Court Judge Julie Marino, faces a possible five-year sentence on each of the third-degree charges.

Two other defendants, Diandre Mikell and Jason Mikell, pleaded guilty before Montgomery’s trial, which began on June 24. Jury selection began June 18.

Montgomery was convicted following an investigation started by the Bergen County Burglary Task Force, according to the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office.

Task force detectives followed a 2010 Altima from Bergen County to Hodge Drive on April 14, 2011. Shortly after, the Prosecutor’s Office said, a burglary was discovered at a Hodge Road home. Entry was made through the front door, and the telephone and security alarm wires were cut; the alarm system was also pulled off a basement home.

Stolen fom the home was a safe containing jewelry and personal/legal papers, authorities said.

The 2010 Nissan Altima was stopped less than an hour after the burglary on Route 22 in Green Brook. The vehicle was being driven by Diandre Mikell, who had rented the vehicle, Montgomery was the front passenger seat and Jason Mikell was in the backseat passenger, according to the Prosecutor’s Office. 

Inside the passenger compartment of the vehicle police found gloves, ski masks and walkie-talkies. Montgomery had wire cutters and a flashlight, authorities said. The items stolen from the house were found in the Altima, authorities said. 

Further investigation found Montgomery’s DNA inside a glove and a ski mask, the Prosecutor's Office said.

The case was prosecuted by Chief Assistant Prosecutor Kathleen P. Holly.