This week's police blotter brings us another cautionary tale: Ladies, no matter what false sense of security you have lulled yourself into, please do not leave your purses unattended--even in the Maplewood Memorial Library. This week, two purses were reported stolen from the library. One was recovered in the men's room with the cash missing; the other from behind the library. Details below.

Also, the police had a breakthrough in their investigation of the armed robbery of a woman at the ATM at Springfield Avenue and Jacoby Street that took place on October 31. After an aggressive investigation and cooperative efforts with other police departments, Willie Odom Jr. of Freehold, NJ, has been arrested and charged with the crime.

In addition, a reader sent Patch a tip that the police had arrested a man at Claremont Street yesterday around 4 p.m. Captain Paul Conlon tells us that no arrest was made; simply, the police were checking a suspicious person who was canvassing the neighborhood for donations to a fundraiser.

From this week's blotter:

Nov. 18, 2009: Thefts- Two thefts were reported at the Maplewood Memorial Library on Baker St.  Sometime between 6:00 and 6:45 p.m. unknown actors removed two unattended purses from different locations inside the library. One purse was later recovered inside the men’s room with cash missing from the wallet. The second purse was recovered at the rear of the library in the park.  There was no description of the actor available to Police.

Nov 22, 2009: Armed Robbery Arrest: On Sunday November 22, 2009, a suspect actively being sought by Maplewood Police Detectives surrendered himself to the Freehold Borough Police on a single charge of armed robbery. With the arrest of Willie Odom Jr. age 41 of Freehold Borough, culminated a three week investigation following the October 31, 2009, early morning robbery of an Irvington female at a Bank of America ATM machine located at Springfield Avenue and Jacoby St. Detectives working with a partial license plate of the suspect’s vehicle were assisted in the investigation by detectives from West Orange Police who experienced a similar crime involving this same suspect and vehicle. The victim in the Maplewood case was positively able to identify the suspect. Once an arrest warrant was issued, detectives made numerous attempts to arrest the actor both at an East Orange address and several locations in Freehold Borough. During his time on the run from authorities, the suspect committed several other robberies in Orange and West Orange and was charged accordingly by those jurisdictions. Odom was being held on $50,000.00 bail on the Maplewood charge. 

Nov. 23, 2009: Possession of CDS- Steven McPhatter, 23, of Midland Blvd., Maplewood, arrived for a court date in Maplewood Municipal Court and was found to be in possession of a small amount of marijuana when being screened for entrance to the court room. McPhatter was taken into custody by Ptl. DeFazio and later released.