NEW CASTLE, DE — A 35-year-old California man is facing felony theft and forgery charges after Delaware State Police alleged he and another person used fraudulent documents to take a trailer containing more than $680,000 worth of electronics from a New Castle warehouse.
State police said troopers responded Sept. 15 to University Plaza in Newark for a reported cargo theft. Investigators learned that two people had arrived at a business in the 1100 block of River Road in New Castle at approximately 9:15 a.m. Sept. 14 in a tractor-trailer cab.
Police allege the two represented themselves as FedEx employees and presented driver’s licenses and shipping documents for a trailer containing more than $680,000 in electronics.
Investigators said the two attached the trailer to the cab and left the property. The shipping documents were subsequently determined to be fraudulent, according to state police.
The person who reported the incident later located the tractor-trailer at University Plaza and called 911, police said.
While troopers were speaking with the caller, they observed a man later identified as Dushatdaman Parihar, 35, of Manteca, California, walking toward the tractor-trailer, according to police.
Troopers contacted Parihar and determined that the driver’s licenses allegedly presented at the warehouse and the registration plate displayed on the tractor-trailer were fraudulent, state police said.
Parihar was taken into custody without incident and transported to Delaware State Police Troop 2. Police reported recovering the trailer and returning it to the business with all of the cargo still inside.
Parihar was charged with felony theft involving property valued at $100,000 or more, first-degree forgery, second-degree forgery, second-degree conspiracy, and displaying a fictitious registration plate.
He was arraigned by Justice of the Peace Court and committed to the Delaware Department of Correction on $66,550 secured bond, according to state police.
Anyone with information related to the case is asked to contact Detective S. Marioni at 302-365-8388. Information may also be provided to Delaware Crime Stoppers at 1-800-847-3333.
All suspects, arrestees, and defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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