PEAPACK & GLADSTONE, N.J. (Somerset County) — Four men were arrested and charged with trespassing earlier this month after allegedly entering the former Pfizer property in Peapack-Gladstone, police said.
On May 10 at approximately 5:48 p.m., Corporal Paul Morris and Officer Gino Schifano responded to Pfizer, located at 100 Route 206, following a report of trespassers on the premises. Officers requested assistance from the Far Hills and Bedminster Township police departments to help search the property.
Security personnel told officers that several individuals had entered through the north gate and made their way into one building. The suspects then allegedly traveled through a tunnel into a second building and exited via the medical offices.
After establishing a perimeter, officers began searching the buildings. Around the same time, Bedminster police located a vehicle parked behind the former Fin Pro building at 158 Route 206. Officers responded to that location and encountered four men, who were later identified as Richard Wilks, 42, of South Amboy; Joshua Matthew, 20, of Union; Pedro Lourenco, 21, of Belleville; and Jason Palmer, 31, of Middletown, New York.
The individuals told police they had been in Mahwah earlier to watch the demolition of the Sheraton Hotel. Afterward, they said they used an app that led them to the former Pfizer site, which was marked as abandoned. The group allegedly entered the property through a hole in the fence.
All four men were arrested and charged with defiant trespass and violations under the borough’s public safety ordinance. They were released pending a court date.
