March 23, 2020

HAMILTON TOWNSHIP, NJ (MERCER)–On March 19, 2020 Hamilton Detective executed a search warrant of a residential/farm property located on the 3800 block of Crosswicks Hamilton Square Road regarding stolen landscaping equipment being stored at that location. Hamilton Detectives working out of the Major Crimes Section have been working on a major theft ring involving two individuals identified as 39 year old Trenton resident Clint Riley and 24 year old Trenton resident Kevin Cedeno-Ruiz. Detectives have investigated thefts that began occurring early into 2019, which involved stolen landscaping equipment in excess of $380,000. Most of these thefts occurred in Hamilton, although several investigations from this theft ring led detectives into additional jurisdictions.

Detectives determined that arrestees, Clint Riley and Kevin Cedeno-Ruiz conspired together to steal local landscaping equipment from storage yards located throughout Hamilton Township, which was then stored in a pole barn located on the property belonging to Clint Riley on Crosswicks Hamilton Square Road. The stolen property was then sold off to buyers through Facebook Marketplace or though street buyers. The stolen merchandise consisted of large ticket items such as X-Mark, Toro and Bobcat industrial lawnmowers that are priced as high as $30,000. Each. Many of the stolen mowers were then stored at multiple locations on Genesee Street in Trenton and the property located on Crosswicks Hamilton Square Road belonging to Clint Riley.

Many times the stolen merchandise was off loaded from mobile storage trailers and then those trailers were dumped empty at various locations in Hamilton Township. Those trailers also contained smaller items such as weed -whackers, edgers and leaf blowers.

As a result of the warrant execution, Hamilton Detectives are still working to identify additional victims for some of the large ticket items recovered as a result of the search warrant.

The Hamilton Police Division would like to thank detectives Schulte, Inman, MacArthur, Ialacci and T. Clugsten for their investigative work involving this investigation. Additionally, the Hamilton Police Anti- Crime Unit and the Lawrence Police Detective Unit assisted in this investigation.

Hamilton Detectives would like to ask the public to contact our Major Crimes Unit at (609) 581-4009 if believe they have been a victim of these landscape burglary/thefts. A list of the stolen landscaping equipment has been compiled for victim purposes. Serial and model numbers will be essential for recovery of these items.

Anyone with additional information regarding this incident is asked to contact Detective Nicholas Schulte at (609) 689-5825 or via email at nschulte@hamiltonpd.org or Detective Daniel Inman at (609) 581-4035 or via email at dinman@hamiltonpd.org The public can also leave a message on the Hamilton Police Crime Tip Hotline at (609) 581-4008.

Every defendant is presumed innocent until being found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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