Window Washing Magician Makes Jewelry Disappear

Mark Tonelli, of the Magic Window Washing Co., a suspect in more thefts: A Washington Township man charged in a theft spree across three towns, including Haddonfield, is a suspect in two more heists here.

A woman who believes she may have been a victim of Mark Tonelli, of the Magic Window Washing Co., filed a complaint this month after reading a report about him on Haddonfield Patch, police said.

The woman, a resident in the 600 block of Edge Park Drive, said $2,100 in jewelry was missing from her home after Tonelli washed windows there on Nov. 19.  She filed a police report on March 7. The woman said the day after Tonelli was at her home, she noticed a pair of diamond earrings, a pendant and a gold chain were missing.  She said she didn’t immediately report Tonelli because she didn’t want to falsely accuse him.  She said she left Tonelli alone for a short time in her home that day.

The next day, on March 8, a resident in the 200 block of Summit Avenue reported a pair of gold earrings, with pearl and ruby inset, a pearl bracelet and an emerald and gold necklace and a ruby and gold necklace were missing from her home after Tonelli cleaned her windows on Oct. 19.  The report did not say why she decided to come forward now.

Tonelli, 48, of 109 Fomalhaut Ave. in the Sewell section of Washington Township, was arrested and charged last month with the theft of nearly $4,500 in jewelry from a Haddonfield residence in the unit block of Wedgewood Lane in November. He was linked to the stolen goods from a pawn shop receipt that included his driver’s license and photo ID.

Tonelli was listed in police reports as the owner of  Magic Window Cleaning Co.  The charges allege he stole jewelry from the Wedgewood Lane home on Nov. 25 while working there. The resident reported a gold bracelet, a diamond tennis bracelet and a diamond, heart-shaped pendant on a gold chain missing after Tonelli and two assistants cleaned the windows at her home.

Borough police said Tonelli’s arrest was the result of a joint investigation between Haddonfield, Harrison and Medford. He was charged with similar burglaries in all three towns.  Tonelli was remanded to Haddonfield municipal court, where a $7,500 full, cash bail was set and then sent to Camden County jail. It was not immediately reported if he was still there or when new charges might be filed.

Window washer steals from two more in borough: Two more theft victims of a window washing company out of Sewell filed reports with the Haddonfield Police Department, claiming that the owner of the company stole jewelry from their homes while washing windows. The owner of the company was charged with theft in late February after a Wedgewood Lane resident reported that after the suspect’s window washing service cleaned her windows, she noticed that she was missed $4,500 worth of jewelry.
Officers had a pawnshop receipt that matched the victim’s jewelry and the suspect’s photo identification. Harrison Township police officers arrested the suspect at his home, several warrants had been placed for his arrest out of Haddonfield and Harrison Township. On March 7, a S. Edge Park Drive resident reported to police at 4 p.m. that the suspect’s company was washing her windows on Nov. 19. After the work was finished she noticed that one pair of diamond earring, a diamond pendant, and a gold omega chain had been stolen from her home. She reported that the last time she saw the items was in August. The items were valued at a total of $2,100.
On March 8, a W. Summit resident reported to police and said the window washing company was at her home on Oct. 19. S She said that after the work was completed she noticed that two pairs of gold earrings, a pearl bracelet, an emerald and gold necklace, and a ruby and gold necklace were stolen. The value of the items was not reported.

Guess who after all these years? December 03, 1993 - A window washer who was trusted to roam unsupervised through two houses has been accused by police of cleaning out his customers, too. Mark L. Tonelli, 31, of the first block of Sunset Drive, Gloucester Township, has been charged with two counts of theft. Authorities said yesterday that Tonelli was accused of stealing a total of $18,800 in jewelry last month from two homes near the Ramblewood Country Club. They also said he worked for the Magic Window Cleaning Co.

"When you think about it, it's a perfect cover," said Saunder Weinstein, the director of public safety in Mount Laurel. Township police said authorities in another county had discovered that some of the jewelry had been sold to a local store. That, in turn, led to the suspect, they said. Tonelli was arrested while cleaning windows at a house in Cherry Hill on Wednesday and released after having posted 10 percent of $5,000 bail. Records show that Mark Tonelli and Albert Tonelli registered Magic Window Cleaning in 1990. The Tonellis are brothers, said a woman who identified herself as their mother in a telephone interview yesterday.

She and a man whom she identified as Albert both denied that Mark was a co- owner of the business and called him only an employee. Mark Tonelli was not available for comment. The police investigation started Nov. 4 after jewelry valued at $4,800 was reported stolen from a home in the 300 block of Saint Clair Court. A block away, in the 300 block of Saint David Drive, another home reported the loss of $14,000 worth of jewelry Nov. 20. The residents of both homes had used Magic Window Cleaning.

Weinstein said Mark Tonelli was arrested after someone at a jewelry store outside Burlington County identified him as the man who sold the store part of the missing jewelry, including a $3,000 diamond ring missing from the Saint David Drive home. Weinstein would not reveal where the store was, but he said police there came upon the jewelry while investigating other jewelry thefts. At the same jewelry store, they also found the entire booty of rings and other jewelry missing from the Saint Clair Court home. Some of the remaining jewelry "was disposed of in Philadelphia, probably on the street," Weinstein said.

He said the thief had in some cases removed precious stones from their settings so that he could sell them more easily. Weinstein said that catching the suspect resulted from "the luck that Tonelli took it to a store instead of passing it off on the streets of Philadelphia, which frequently happens." Weinstein told residents to "at minimum . . . seek references" when hiring help.