Man Arrested AGAIN for Stealing from Hoboken Walgreens and Trader Joe’s

Prior Arrest

Around 9:25 AM on August 27, 2024, Officers Frank Francolino, Marco Grossman, and Chris Hatfield responded to the Walgreens at 1300 Willow Avenue on reports of a shoplifting. They met with a store employee at the counter and they walked into the office to review the surveillance footage. The employee provided the officers with a description of the alleged assailant, and told the officers that he had stolen an umbrella and multiple drinks. Around the same time, Sergeant Saverio Binetti located a man matching this description in the vicinity of 19th Street and Waterfront Terrace in Weehawken past the Hoboken border. The man was identified as 50-year-old Phillip Realpe.

Officers Hatfield and Tyrone Huggins responded to that location and positively identified him as the person who had stolen from the Walgreens. A search incident to arrest revealed that he was in possession of prohibited items. The officers also found him to be in possession of filet mignon steaks that he had stolen from Trader Joe’s. He was transported to the Hoboken Police Department for further processing. He was charged with shoplifting (2C:20-11B(1)), receiving stolen property (2C:20-7A), and possession (2C:36-2A) and transported to the Hudson County Correctional Facility.

Phillip had recently been arrested in Hoboken for stealing from the ShopRite at 900 Madison Street on August 5, 2024. Court records indicate that Phillip has also been arrested for allegedly shoplifting in Jersey City on August 5, 2023, Lyndhurst on February 1, 2024, Fairview on February 8, 2024 and Secaucus on July 28, 2024.

----------------------------------------------

Please LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, and consider supporting this channel (email us for more information). Donations will be used to acquire more public footage related to law enforcement activities.

Our content is shared for educational and news gathering purposes. We are in compliance with YouTube's Fair Use Policy because we edit several long clips into a concise story. This is similar to other law enforcement channels on YouTube. All videos and case documents were obtained pursuant to the New Jersey Open Public Records Act, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq. (P.L. 2024, c.16). Defendants are considered innocent until proven guilty.

The New Jersey Supreme Court has previously affirmed in Salzano v. North Jersey Media Group, 993 A.2d 778 (2010) that “The fair-report privilege reflects the judgment that the need, in a self-governing society, for free-flowing information about matters of public interest outweighs concerns over the uncompensated injury to a person's reputation.” This video advances a compelling public interest. The summary of events was based on records that are “open to public view through open access to public records” as defined in the Salzano case. In Ramos v. Flowers, 429 N.J. Super. 13, the Appellate Division of the Superior Court has also affirmed the right to film law enforcement interactions.