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Shelter Island cops bust suspect at Newark Airport

REPORTER FILE PHOTO Shelter Island Police arrested a suspect at Newark International Airport and charged him with robbing an Island restaurant's safe after the Memorial Day weekend.
REPORTER FILE PHOTO Shelter Island Police arrested a suspect at Newark International Airport and charged him with robbing an Island restaurant’s safe after the Memorial Day weekend.

A case that began Tuesday May 26 with a theft of currency and other items from an Island restaurant’s safe was cracked about a week later when a Shelter Island Police officer arrested a suspect at Newark Liberty International Airport.

David H. Chung, 26, of Rutherford, New Jersey was arrested by Detective Sergeant Jack Thilberg at 2 a.m. May 31 at the airport where Mr. Chung was making a connection to another flight. Some of the stolen items were in Mr. Chung’s possession, police said.

An investigation into the crime by Shelter Island officers revealed that Mr. Chung was preparing to leave the country through various connecting flights, according to police reports.

He had been tracked by local officers and U.S. Department of Homeland Security investigators to the Bahamas. According to the Shelter Island police, Mr. Chung and a companion were “monitored” by DHS, United State Customs officers and the Royal Bahamas Police Force.

Mr. Chung and his companion returned to the United States through Miami International Airport and then flew on to Newark, where they were apprehended and Mr. Chung was taken into custody by Detective Sergeant Thilberg and DHS officers.

Mr. Chung was charged with burglary in the 3rd degree and grand larceny in the 3rd Degree. He was arraigned before Shelter Island Justice Court and then sent to the Suffolk County Jail in lieu of bail. His passport was surrendered.