Shoplifters stab worker at Woodbridge Center mall, police say

WOODBRIDGE – A mall loss prevention officer was stabbed twice in the arm during a shoplifting incident that ended with five people in custody on Sunday.

The loss prevention officer for a store at the Woodbridge Center was stabbed when he tried to stop a shoplifting involving five people, all from New York, around 5:25 p.m., according to Woodbridge police spokesman Scott Kuzma. News 12 reported the loss prevention officer worked for the mall's Macy's.

The five people involved fled the mall in a grey Honda Odyssey. which police stopped on Route 1 after a brief pursuit, according to Kuzma.

The loss prevention officer was taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick for treatment of his wound, according to Kuzma. He said the loss prevention officer's injuries were considered serious but not life threatening.

Kuzma did not disclose the identity of the loss prevention officer.

The five individuals charged were:

• Joel M. Cordello, age 19, of Brooklyn with receiving stolen property and robbery
• James Edward Farrow Jr., age 59, of Cambridge Heights, New York with eluding, receiving stolen property, resisting arrest, conspiracy, robbery, forgery and possession of a controlled dangerous substance.
• Bruce Garcia, age 49, of Brooklyn with receiving stolen property, possession of a controlled dangerous substance, resisting arrest, conspiracy and robbery.
• Denise Orengo, age 46, of Brooklyn with receiving stolen property, resisting arrest, contempt, conspiracy and robbery.
• Kevin Orengo, age 22, of Brooklyn with receiving stolen property, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, unlawful possession of weapons, aggravated assault with a weapon and resisting arrest.

The group had been shoplifting polo shirts, cops say.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ

More from New Jersey 101.5