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Thursday, January 26, 2006
BY JOE MOSZCZYNSKI
Star-Ledger Staff
A 54-year-old Bergen County man was sentenced to five years in state
prison for stealing firearms from the unlocked vehicles of hunters that
were parked outside a sporting goods store on Route 206 in Andover
Township.
John Parisi of South Hackensack stole four weapons from three
vehicles between Dec. 5, 2004, and April 22, 2005, the Sussex County
Prosecutor's Office said.
"They were just laying there. He came walking by, saw them and took
them," said First Assistant Prosecutor William Fitzgibbons.
"This wasn't your typical case where the guns were stolen for drug
money," he said.
All of the weapons were recovered at Parisi's home and returned to
their owners.
Parisi, who owns a cabin in the Stillwater area, would stop by the
Simon-Peter sporting goods store, use the bathroom and case the parking
lot area, looking for unlocked vehicles, Fitzgibbons said. He didn't
know why Parisi took the weapons.
One weapon was stolen from a vehicle on Dec. 5, 2004, two weapons
were stolen on March 19, 2005, and another was stolen on April 22.
Parisi also stole a tree stand from a parked pickup truck on Oct. 22,
2004, and a woman's purse from a parked vehicle on May 7.
Rich Peter, owner of Simon- Peter, said he knew Parisi as an
occasional customer at his store.
Parisi, a hunter, was arrested after surveillance cameras were
installed in the parking lot during the six-month series of thefts and
he was captured on tape stealing a weapon from a parked vehicle, Peter
said.
"We were on to him. We knew something wasn't right with him," he
said.
Parisi also was ordered Friday in Superior Court to submit a DNA
sample at his own expense and was fined $655. He was given credit for
the one day he already served in the county jail.
Joe Moszczynski may be reached at
jmoszczynski@starledger.com
or (73) 383-0516.
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