A 62-year-old Secaucus man was found dead inside his own Hyundai Elantra in a Mill Creek Drive parking garage Sunday morning, and police say a 28-year-old Hartford, Connecticut man was arrested nearby a few hours later carrying the victim's credit cards. Quashawn Clayton now faces burglary and theft charges after what police described as a break-in that turned into a death investigation.
According to Patch, Secaucus Police received a 911 call at 7:48 a.m. Sunday reporting a man breaking into a 2026 Hyundai Elantra parked in the garage at 200 Mill Creek Drive. When officers arrived, they found the car door ajar and discovered the lifeless body of the 62-year-old man inside the vehicle.
Police said there did not appear to be any foul play suspected in his death at that time, and the cause of death was being investigated by the Regional Medical Examiner, which was conducting an autopsy, the same report noted. As News12 New Jersey reported, officers launched a search for the burglary suspect and distributed his description to patrol units and neighboring law enforcement agencies, while Secaucus Police Detective Division detectives and the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office Homicide Squad responded to assist with the investigation.
A Foot Chase Across the Street From the Scene
At about 11:02 a.m., Officer Jonathan Padron spotted a man matching the burglary suspect's description walking along Lighting Way, directly across the street from where the car break-in happened, per the station's reporting. When Padron ordered the man to stop, Clayton allegedly ignored the command and fled on foot, with Padron giving chase before placing him under arrest in the area of 100 Lighting Way.
A search turned up credit cards belonging to the deceased man in Clayton's possession, police said. He was taken to the Hudson County Jail to await a future court date, according to the same account.
Multiple Charges Filed
Clayton was charged with burglary, theft of movable property, credit card theft, obstructing the administration of law, and failure to report a death, per the reporting. Separately, News12 New Jersey reported that Dennis Miller said evidence suggests the man died before the theft occurred.
Reporting on the death investigation itself has diverged. An early report from Daily Voice described a homicide investigation as underway in Secaucus Sunday morning, while later Patch reporting said no crime was suspected in the man's death and that it had not been classified as a homicide, with Secaucus Police serving as the lead agency handling the incident. The investigation into the man's death remains ongoing, Daily Voice reported, and the official cause and manner of death remain under investigation by the Regional Medical Examiner's Office.
