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DOUGLASS CROUSE
The Record (Bergen County, NJ)


CLIFTON-- It was a prolific run, but police say a Pennsylvania woman's days of check bouncing, officer impersonating and on-the-run hairstyling are over.
The list of charges against Janaki Patel, 22, of Philadelphia is sufficiently long to qualify her as a "one-woman crime wave," police Detective Capt. Robert Rowan said.
As far as police can tell, it all began in June when Patel allegedly ordered 500 business cards identifying her as an officer with the Passaic County Sheriff's Department. She paid the $292 bill at Curry Printers on Market Street with a check, which promptly bounced, Rowan said.
Shop co-owner Mark Molenaro recalled the young lady and her order.
"She came in and had the handcuffs, some kind of weapon, the whole thing," he said. "She brought in another officer's business card, crossed out the name, put her name in its place, and said, 'This is what I want my card to look like.' "
"We do a lot of printing for law enforcement, and it all looked legit."
In the days of scheming that followed, July 12 was especially busy, said Rowan, who gave this account:
Patel started her day at a city Drug Fair, where she piled 63 items into her shopping cart and gave the cashier a personal check for $430.14. An in-store verification found the account had insufficient funds, so Patel offered to go out to her car to get cash.
She walked out ? taking the merchandise with her ? and never went back.
Next was CVS, where she used a forged check for $617.40 to pay for developed photos and merchandise. Asked for her driver's license, Patel said she'd left it in the car.
This time, she was told to leave the stuff behind, including the check and the photos. She walked out, then drove off.
"At that point," Rowan said, "we had a picture of her," which Detective Edgar Ruiz noticed matched descriptions of the thief in earlier incidents.
After CVS, Patel had an appointment at Hair Works on Piaget Avenue, where Rowan said she also had a history: in March, she allegedly passed a fraudulent check for $116.84. She returned on July 5, claiming she was a sheriff's officer whose "twin sister" had passed the bad check, and that she was there to make good on it, Rowan said. She paid part of the tab.
Back again at the salon on July 12, Patel had her hair done while playing the role of the bad twin, Rowan said, then skipped out without paying the $30 fee.
Three days later, she allegedly bilked a nail salon and an auto repair shop on Bloomfield Avenue in similar fashion.
On Wednesday, Detective Gary Passenti spotted Patel driving near the corner of Main and Crooks avenues. Passenti arrested her after discovering a pellet gun and an officer's shield in her car, along with a T-shirt and cap with the Passaic County Sheriff's Department logo, Rowan said.
Authorities are investigating how she obtained the law enforcement items. Rowan said the defendant apparently focused on Clifton because she has family in the area.
Charges against Patel include impersonating an officer, unlawful possession of a firearm, possession of marijuana, several counts of theft by deception, passing bad checks and forgery. She was being held Thursday in the city jail in lieu of $100,000 bail.

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