Four men have been charged in connection with a food theft ring that targeted cargo trucks along the New Jersey Turnpike.

New Jersey State Police said Monday the suspects, all from Philadelphia, were apprehended in the middle of another break-in. Shaun Coleman, 23, Salahudin Reddy, 37, Hanif Tucker, 31, and Rashan Clark-Reddy, 26, face multiple counts of conspiracy, criminal mischief, burglary and possession of stolen goods. Law enforcement said they are connected to numerous thefts over the past three years in the area, involving items worth millions of dollars.

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Police said the arrests followed a two-month investigation nicknamed “Operation Beef Bandit.” Officers had been searching for the crew responsible for a string of burglaries at service areas off the New Jersey Turnpike, all nine of which involved the theft of meat, alcohol, seafood and other high-value items from parked trailers. In many cases, the vehicles were occupied.

Early Friday morning, state troopers noticed two suspicious vehicles enter the Molly Pitcher Service Area off the turnpike, authorities said. Four suspects exited and attempted to steal boxes of meat from a tractor trailer parked in the lot. Police quickly caught Tucker and, after a brief foot chase, Coleman. But Reddy and Clark-Reddy fled in a stolen vehicle, crashing into an occupied, unmarked police car and two marked police vehicles in their escape attempt. Police pursued and apprehended the pair, with three state troopers sustaining minor injuries. One officer was treated at a hospital and later released.

Sgt. Charles Marchan could not say if the suspects were connected to the recent cargo thefts in South Philadelphia. In August, thieves swiped about 350-400 pounds of tuna from a refrigerated trailer truck at Samuels Seafood Co. In September, six men in masks stole another three pallets of seafood from Seventh Street and Packer Avenue. Police also reported cargo thefts of snow crab, beef, salmon and bourbon in the city earlier in the summer and spring.

While Marchan acknowledged that the “same MO” appears in numerous cargo thefts across the region, he stressed that the investigation is still ongoing. New Jersey State Police is soliciting tips regarding these crimes at 732-522-4295, extension 3226. All four suspects have been taken to Middlesex County Jail, where they await bail detention hearings. 

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