Men took taxi to rob house, then stiffed driver, cops say

The two men are accused of taking a taxi to rob a house in Deal and then refused to pay the driver on the return trip, cops say

Timothy Foote, left, and Kenneth Burke are accused of taking a taxi to rob a house in Deal and then not paying the taxi fare(New Jersey Department of Corrections) 

Timothy Foote, left, and Kenneth Burke are accused of taking a taxi to rob a house in Deal and then not paying the taxi fare(New Jersey Department of Corrections) 

DEAL -- Deal police said they arrested two men who took a taxi to burglarize a house in town and then refused to pay the driver when they drove back to an apartment in Asbury Park with the stolen goods.

Kenneth Burke, 46, and Timothy Foote, 38, of Ocean Township, called for a taxi to a home on Norwood Avenue in Deal on Friday night, said Deal police Sgt. Brian Egan.

Egan said they instructed the taxi driver to wait outside before they returned a short time later with a television set and some liquor bottles. He said the driver then took them to an apartment in Asbury Park, where they got out without paying the fare.

The driver called Asbury Park police reporting the beat fare and the suspicious activity of the customers, Egan said.

After being alerted by Asbury Park police at 10:31 p.m., Deal officers checked the house and determined it had just been burglarized, he said.

Burke and Foote were charged with burglary, conspiracy to commit burglary, criminal trespass and theft. They were being held in the Monmouth County jail in Freehold on $20,000 bail each.

The stolen items were returned to the homeowner, Egan said.