Busted! Public helps capture mom seen on camera having son steal, cops say

It's the good work of a concerned community that helped Saddle Brook police catch the woman accused of putting her son up to a cell phone theft, police said.

Saddle Brook police had released surveillance video of the woman seemingly instructing her son to steal the cellphone after it was dropped on the floor of a local restaurant.

"The release of the video to the media led to several tips," Police Chief Robert Kugler reportedly told the Daily Voice. "We followed up on each and every one of them and identified her.

According to that report and others, Myra Rodriguez, 37, a Honduran national living in Garfield, turned herself in Friday morning. She's reportedly facing charges of theft and child endangerment.

"I thank the media and the many people who agreed her actions were just plain wrong, especially having a minor child be involved," the Daily Voice quoted Kugler saying.

In the video released by police, a group of three people believed to be a mother, father and son are seen walking through the front lobby area of the Hibachi Grill and Buffet on Route 46 on Sunday toward the exit. The group stops and the teen boy is directed by a woman to a bench where a cell phone is lying on the floor. The boy picks it up and then walks quickly to the door.

No one else in the lobby area notices the boy. The host is seating a large party and leading its members toward the dining room while a man and woman standing in the middle of the lobby have their back to the bench.

A missing Samsung Galaxy 4 mini smartphone valued at $600 was later reported missing to police, according to an earlier report in the Daily Voice.

Saddle Brook Police ask anyone with information on the case to contact 201-843-7000.