Three Home Burglaries Reported in Last Week

Three Livingston homes were burglarized during the past week.  Two home invasions occurred on Saturday night on the same street, according to police reports.

On May 19, at about 4 p.m., the  homeowner at 116 Shrewsbury Drive called police to report that his home had been entered; the front door of the residence was open and the screen and window in the master bedroom was broken, too.  Jewelry from several bedrooms were reported missing and the master bedroom was ransacked. 

On Saturday night, two homes on Tuxedo Drive were robbed.  Police received the first call at about 10 p.m. when the homeowner at 26 Tuxedo Drive called to report that someone had entered the home.  Although the back door was reportedly left open, the screen was kicked in.  Also, the alarm system was ripped out of the wall and the home appeared ransacked.  A miscellaneous amount of jewelry was reported missing.

Later that night — actually in the early hours of Sunday (May 23), at about 1 a.m. — police received a call from the homeowner at 20 Tuxedo Drive indicating that the home had been burglarized.  Again, a bedroom window had been pushed open.  Several pieces of jewelry were reported missing, along with $900 in cash that was taken from a purse that was kept in the kitchen.

Police are asking if anyone has any information to call the Detective Bureau at 973-992-3000.  Also, if anyone sees any strangers ringing doorbells in any neighborhood, please let the police know. A common tactic the police department is seeing is that robbers are ringing doorbells and then jumping in the bushes to see if anyone is home;  if not, the robber then goes around back to enter the home. 

Also on the blotter this week, three Livingston teens were taken into custody after police found marijuana and alcohol in the car they were driving in.  On May 20, police stopped a car at the corner of Madonna Drive and Robert Harp Drive (next to the high school) when the driver ran a stop sign.  When the officer approached the car, drug paraphernalia was observed along with a bag a marijuana.  Police also found beer, whiskey and vodka in the trunk of the car.  The teens — two sixteen year olds and a 17-year old — were taken into custody.

On May 26, a little before 2 a.m., police responded to an accident on Shrewsbury Drive.  A 2002 Honda Civic, driven by Livingston resident Eric Liu, had hit a telephone pole, causing part of the car to catch fire, which was then extinguished. Liu indicated to police that a deer had unexpectedly crossed the road and he swerved to avoid it.  Liu and the two other passengers in the car were injured and  taken to Morristown Memorial Hospital, where there's a Trauma 2 center.

Blood was taken from Liu and sent to the state police lab.   Upon receipt of the lab findings, police have charged Liu with a DWI.