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Moonachie PD: Hasbrouck Heights Shoplifter, 70, Injures Walmart Worker

MOONACHIE, N.J. – A 70-year-old Hasbrouck Heights man hit a Teterboro Walmart employee in the head with his car hatch after stealing a propane tank, Moonachie police said.

Moonachie Police Officer Andrew Finch outside the Teterboro Walmart.

Moonachie Police Officer Andrew Finch outside the Teterboro Walmart.

Photo Credit: DAILY VOICE photo

William Simmons was putting the tank in the back of the car Friday night when the employee approached and asked whether he’d paid for it, Police Chief Richard Behrens said.

Simmons “closed the rear hatch of the vehicle, striking the employee in the head, and then entered the driver’s seat and drove way,” Behrens said.

The injured worker gave police a license plate number that Moonachie police used to track him down, the chief said.

Simmons later turned himself in, Behrens said.

He was charged with robbery and released pending further court action.

Simmons also was cited for driving an unregistered vehicle with a suspended driver’s license. The car was impounded.

The Walmart worker “complained of head pain but refused medical treatment at the scene,” Behrens said.

The next afternoon, police arrested a 32-year-old Wayne man who they said struck a Walmart worker in the leg after she cut him off at the exit carrying a suitcase stuffed with stolen items, the chief said.

Nicholas J. Theobald “then ran from the store to the bus stop on the other side of Route 46, where he was observed by Walmart employees changing his clothing,” Behrens said.

Responding Officers Andrew Finch and Robert Bauer found Theobald carrying eight stolen electric hair clippers, as well as cocaine, a hypodermic needle and a glass pipe which is used to smoke crack, the chief said.

He, too, was released pending a court hearing on drug and robbery charges.

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