Brothers arrested trying to break into Jersey City pharmacy; thieves pocket $22K in 2 other burglaries

Two brothers from Essex County men were charged early Wednesday morning after Jersey City police say they broke into a Kennedy Boulevard building and attempted to burglarize the pharmacy next door.

Asaph Francois, 29, and Melec Francois, 36, both of Orange, were arrested after trying to flee from the area of Kennedy Boulevard and DeKalb Avenue at 4 a.m., Jersey City spokeswoman Kimberly Wallace-Scalcione said.

Police were alerted to the two men by a caller and found the men still at the scene when they arrived.

After their arrests, police found that the locks had been cut off a security gate. Police also found heavy damage to a wall that led into the pharmacy next door and a bag containing numerous suspected burglary tools, including bolt cutters, pry bars and flashlights, Wallace-Scalcione said

The two men were charged with multiple offenses, including burglary, attempted burglary, possession of burglary tools, criminal mischief and resisting arrest.

Four days earlier, $22,000 in cash was stolen into two separate break-ins in the Heights neighborhood. City officials did not say if the three burglaries are related.

At 11:15 a.m. on Jan. 21, the owner of a grocery store/deli on Kennedy Boulevard near Irving Street told police that when he arrived he found that the doors in the back of the building had been left open after they were possible left unlocked. He also told police approximately $15,000 had been stolen from a safe in the building.

At about the same time on Jan. 21, the owner of store on Central Avenue between Franklin and Hutton streets told police $7,000 had been stolen from a safe located in the store.

Police determined the burglar or burglars entered through the front cellar doors that were closed, but had been left unsecured overnight, Wallace-Scalcione said.

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