Two Garfield men who were able to steal more than $40,000 in copper from a building under construction in Lyndhurst have been charged in connection to the crime, thanks to great detective work and collaboration with one of the department’s officers, Capt. Paul Haggerty, the Lyndhurst Police Department’s public-information officer, said
According to Haggerty:
On Monday, March 2, 2026, at 8:22 a.m., the property management of 9 Polito Ave., Lyndhurst’s sole high-rise building which is undergoing a massive renovation, made a report of theft of more than $40K in copper and criminal mischief to several electrical transformers located on the first floor of the parking garage in an isolated area.
The building manager told police just prior to contacting them, he had performed an equipment/material check of the property, which revealed numerous transformers had been damaged and stripped of copper components.
The property manager also said he reviewed video surveillance, which captured the incident.
The manager provided Det. Sgt. Christopher Cuneo, who investigated the incident, with copies of the video surveillance, which revealed on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2026, at 8:20 p.m., a black early 2000s Ford F-150 entered the first level of the parking garage.
The vehicle approached the location of the electrical equipment and parked.
The men were observed approaching and tampering with the electrical equipment. Later that afternoon, Cuneo identified the vehicle’s registration and its registered owner as one of the two suspects, Mario Saltalamacchia, 39, of Garfield, who matched the video surveillance.
This was obtained through inquires within the township’s ALPR system.
Cuneo then called Saltalamacchia, who said he would respond to police headquarters to speak with him at noon, March 4. Alas, Saltalamacchia never showed and refused to answer any of Cuneo’s calls from that point.
Cuneo then began contacting local area scrap yards, where he discovered that Saltalamacchia did in fact scrap the copper. Cuneo also identified his accomplice, Arthur J. Majcher, 40, of Garfield, by contacting a previous employer using various investigative leads. It was also discovered Majcher had also conducted a transaction on a sperate date at the same scrap yard in Garfield.
During the course of the investigation and upon Majcher being identified, Cuneo realized Officer Michael D’Alessandro had contact with him Jan. 18, 2026, while conducting a property check. D’Alessandro observed Majcher checking the contents of a dumpster on the same property, and when approached by D’Alessandro, he reportedly lied and said that he was authorized by the general contractor of the site to retrieve scrap metal.
At the time, Majcher’s identity was confirmed and memorialized, and he was sent on his way since the dumpster was empty.
Then, Wednesday, March 11, 2026 at 9 a.m., both turned themselves in at Lyndhurst police headquarters at the direction of legal counsel. Both were charged with third degree theft, third degree criminal mischief and disorderly persons criminal trespass.
After being processed, Saltalamacchia and Majcher were released on a complaint summons pending appearances in the Bergen County Central Judicial Processing Court, Hackensack.
Chief Richard L. Jarvis Jr. commended Cuneo for closing out the investigation and identifying both suspects quickly. He also commended Officer D’Alessandro for his proactive patrol work, which later tied one of the suspects to the crime scene.
“This is outstanding work by our patrol officers and detectives in closing out another case using intelligence and technology that were complimented by close partnership with a local developer” Haggerty said.
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Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, an organization he has served since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on social media channels such as YouTube, Facebook, and X, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to Kearny to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.