U.S. Marshalls and State Police arrest man who hired teens to help steal vehicles in Princeton

A 19-year-old Newark resident has been arrested in connection with the November theft of vehicles in the Littlebrook neighborhood in Princeton that resulted in the deaths of a young teen and a Kingston resident.

Elhajjmalik Diallo has been charged with burglary, theft, and employing juveniles to commit a crime. On May 16, Diallo was arrested by members of the United States Marshall Service and New
Jersey State Police on auto theft charges from several municipalities. He is currently being lodged in the Essex County Correctional Facility.

Just after 1 p.m. on Nov. 7, a crash took place on Princeton-Kingston Road (Route 27) in Princeton after two teens tried multiple times to steal luxury sports cars parked in a driveway on Clover Lane. A 15-year-old who was driving a stolen Jeep Grand Cherokee fled the Clover Lane area and was traveling east on Princeton-Kingston Road when she crossed over the double yellow line and hit a 2016 Acura RDX head on. Both the teen and the driver of the Acura, 61-year-old Kingston resident Jodi Marcou, were pronounced dead at the scene. A 14-year-old boy who was a passenger in the Jeep was hospitalized with critical injuries.

According to police, Diallo allegedly hired the teen driver and passenger to steal vehicles from the Princeton area. Diallo also stole a 2015 Land Rover Range Rover from a resident’s driveway on Dodds Lane while the resident was taking recycling bins out to the curb. One of the sports cars the teens attempted to steal from Clover Lane was taken to a car dealer the following day, and the vehicle was stolen from the dealership that evening. The family had placed a tracker on the vehicle and it was located by police in Newark shortly after it was stolen.