Crime & Safety

Reputed 'James Bond Gang' Burglars, 3 Others Charged in Teaneck Break-In

Five charged in recent string of Teaneck-area burglaries.

Two reputed founding members of the “James Bond Gang” burglary crew free on parole were charged as part of a probe into a string of home break-ins around the Teaneck-area, authorities said Thursday.

An investigation led by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, which included Teaneck and Englewood detectives, led to the arrests of Jeffrey Whitaker, 50, of Teaneck, and William "Christopher" Collins, 41, of Hackensack, according to Prosecutor John L. Molinelli. Two other men - Steven Wilson and Davae Harrison - both 18 from Englewood, along with a 17-year-old boy were also charged.

Detectives were watching Whitaker the day after a home burglary Sunday in Teaneck that matched a pattern of break-ins already under investigation, Molinelli said. The four others charged were with Whitaker when he drove to an upper Manhattan jewelry store to sell loot stolen the day earlier in Teaneck, the prosecutor added.

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“After the suspects left the store, detectives and NYPD officers spoke with the jewelry store employee and confirmed that he purchased pieces of jewelry from them for cash,” Molinelli said in a statement.

Police stopped the five as they drove back to New Jersey and found they had the same amount of cash paid out for the jewelry, the prosecutor added.

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Whitaker and Collins were released on parole in 2011 after serving three months of a four-year prison term on burglary charges, according to state records.


Authorities said Whitaker was charged with burglary, theft, receiving stolen property, employing a juvenile in the commission of a crime, conspiracy to commit burglary and theft. For his alleged role in the township burglary, Collins faces charges of receiving stolen property, employing a juvenile in the commission of a crime and conspiracy to receive stolen property.


The pair remained held at the Bergen County Jail on $500,000 bail, with no ten percent option, according to sheriff's records.


Both have lengthy criminal records as part of “James Bond Gang” burglary crew, which was formed in the 1980s and earned the 007 nickname for purportedly using a souped-up BMW to evade police.


Harrison was charged with burglary and theft, prosecutors said. Wilson was charged with receiving stolen property and conspiracy to receive stolen property. They were being held at the Bergen County Jail on $150,000 bail. The 17-year-old was charged with conspiracy to receive stolen property.


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