Justin Pugh’s latest law enforcement work in Jersey City deserves its own reality show.
He could call it ‘JCPD Pugh.’ Or ‘Law & Order: Special Lineman’s Unit.’
“I’m like CSI,” Pugh, the Giants’ starting left guard, joked with a smile on Wednesday. “I’m starting the community watch. In five days, I helped catch a guy who’s been stealing stuff for the past six months.”
It’s a true story. Pugh really did flex his muscles as an investigator the past few weeks.
Pugh, a Jersey City resident, started his sleuthing by posting several videos on Twitter of a man brazenly stealing packages from Pugh’s front door. Pugh said the man stole approximately $3,000 of merchandise, including one package with two of Pugh’s custom suits shipped from California and another package containing cast-iron pots.
“He stole my stuff twice,” Pugh said. “I have him on camera. He walked up, looks right at the camera, and steals it.”
Pugh’s hope was that he could crowdsource the man’s identity to help police catch him, and that’s exactly what happened: Pugh filed a report and gave a statement at the Jersey City North District police station last Friday. And by this Tuesday, with the help of information gathered by Pugh, a Jersey City officer had recognized the suspect while patrolling and arrested him on burglary charges.
“I’ve had Justin join me at youth football camps in Jersey City and now he is catching bad guys and pretty soon he will run for elected office,” Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop told the Daily News on Thursday. “All joking aside it is great to have him as a resident and so involved in the community.”
Pugh said when he posted the first video of the man brazenly snatching his stuff from the front stoop, “someone else on Twitter said ‘the same guy got me last week in Hoboken.'” All told, Pugh was able to identify four houses the man had burglarized, which led the Giants lineman and his next-door neighbor to begin walking the neighborhood at points, trying to find him.
Pugh joked that his girlfriend must have thought he was crazy, driving around Jersey City with his eyes peeled and his head on a swivel. But in the end Pugh enlisted the help of the JCPD and together they solved the crime.
That’s Big Blue for you, alright.
Pugh joked that his girlfriend must have thought he was crazy, driving around Jersey City with his eyes peeled and his head on a swivel. But in the end Pugh enlisted the help of the JCPD and together they solved the crime.
That’s Big Blue for you, alright.
