Vito Anderson continually looked around and did not face the camera during his virtual detention hearing March 18, 2026.
An Atlantic County man allegedly responsible for dozens of burglaries over several counties was ordered held in jail this week.
The decision not only was to protect the community, but to help the defendant, Superior Court Judge William Miller said.
Vito Anderson, 40, currently has 73 pending charges in multiple jurisdictions, including Cape May County.
He is on release from Camden County and has several cases through Cape May County’s Mental Health Court.
Mental Health Court was first developed in Atlantic County more than a year before a 2024 statute brought the initiative statewide.
“The only reason I’m detaining him is for a social worker to get to that jail, get him before a Mental Health Court judge and readjust his program,” the judge said Wednesday. “Whatever program he is on now isn’t working.”
Miller pointed to Anderson’s behavior during the detention hearing, as the defendant constantly fidgeted, rubbed and brushed at his head, talked to himself and turned away from the camera.
“As I look at him on the screen, he’s suffering,” the judge said.
But, he acknowledged, so are businesses and residents who have been victims of burglaries totaling thousands of dollars in cash, and even more in damages.
Anderson is accused of burglarizing businesses and homes in Atlantic, Cape May, Ocean and Camden counties. There also are allegations of sexually gratifying himself in public.
Departments joined together in tracking the suspect, as police in Brigantine and Northfield realized their cases pointed to the same man.
Galloway Township police also had investigated Anderson, with a local tattoo shop helping lead to his arrest in 2024.
Police there confirmed he was the same suspect Brigantine was looking for, Detective Peter Rao wrote in one of the affidavits of probable cause obtained by BreakingAC.
Facial recognition software also was used.
The latest burglary was discovered last Thursday morning, when an employee came to open Carluccio’s Coal Fired Pizza in Northfield, and discovered the glass front door smashed, the office door damaged and two safes broken.
The store’s surveillance cameras showed Anderson in the shop for about an hour, spending about 20 minutes lying on the floor, owner Carlo Citera told Fideri News Network.
About $1,300 was taken, with an estimated $2,700 in damages, according to the charges.
“I’m angry because of all the damage he caused, but I’m happy that he was arrested,” Citera said. “The cops did an unbelievable job finding him.”
Anderson was arrested hours later, when New Jersey State Police notified the local investigators that their suspect was gambling at Bally’s Atlantic City.
When he was taken into custody, Anderson had dollar bills in rubber-banded stacks of $50 and coins wrapped with LOOMIS, exactly as described in the Carluccio’s robbery.
Anderson’s current charges date to 2024, and include three dozen cases in Atlantic, Cape May and Camden counties.
The allegations paint the picture of a prolific career burglar.
On March 11, 2024, there were seven properties burglarized in Stone Harbor, Cape May County.
The next week, Anderson was tied to the burglaries of six businesses and a home in the area of Mechanic Street in Haddonfield, Camden County.
His earlier charges show him living in Pleasantville, but his current address is listed as the Atlantic City Rescue Mission.
His history includes life in foster care, abuse, mental illness and homelessness, according to what was presented at his detention hearing.
“If anyone has a soul, they can see he’s suffering,” the judge said. “The court is very mindful that a lot of this is probably coming from his mental health deficits.”
Miller said he could not release Anderson under the current conditions, noting that he no longer has the option of “furloughing” his custody to a mental health facility.
Instead, he made sure that the record would note that the Mental Health Court needed to institute a more intensive treatment program for Anderson.
“It’s only for that interim period until we can get him back into his mental health treatment program with a stepped-up treatment level,” Miller said. “I think that balances out the community’s right to protection but also gives him the pathway to getting the appropriate level of treatment.”
Fideri News Network reporter Nanette LoBiondo Galloway contributed to this report.
