Gov. Murphy Responds To Attempted Car Theft Next To His Middletown Home

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — On Tuesday night, News 12 New Jersey asked Gov. Phil Murphy if he could respond to the attempted theft of a Land Rover very close to his home this past Sunday afternoon. This is the first time Murphy has spoken publicly about the incident.

At 3:25 p.m. Sunday, two suspects were spotted trying to break into the home's garage, where a Land Rover was parked inside, said Middletown Police. They were not successful and sped off in a white BMW.

Police said the attempted break-in happened "in close proximity to the governor's," but News 12 reports it actually happened in the house immediately next door to Murphy's private family home.

"Governor, as you know this was an attempted break-in at your neighbor's house, apparently an attempt to steal a Land Rover from your neighbor," said "Ask the Governor" host Eric Landskroner. "The crooks, degenerates, whatever you want to call them, tried to force their way into the garage. They were startled and sped off. Your thoughts? I mean, this is right near your home."

"Listen, sadly, this is all over America right now. It's certainly all over New Jersey,” Murphy replied. "Now I'm glad that the AG has made some very smart moves ... don't leave your key fob in the car ... loosening the parameters around when you can give chase."

But it was Murphy's own former Attorney General, Gurbir Grewal, who forbade New Jersey police from pursuing cars, in this "Vehicle Pursuit Policy" addendum released in December 2020. In the aftermath of George Floyd, Gov. Murphy ordered many major changes to police use-of-force policies that year — and forbidding police from chasing cars was one of them.

Also on the show, Murphy said he would "be open-minded" to charging juveniles who steal cars as adults.

"I'm told that these are juveniles backed by professional criminals and the juvenile, as the story goes, spends a night or two in jail and is back out doing the same thing again," said the governor. "I am open minded — and I've said this before — to allowing our prosecutors the latitude to pursue juveniles in the same manner that they would pursue adults. Listen, it's a reality. I can’t believe these guys were stupid enough to come close, given the security on our street ... We take this very, very seriously."

But Murphy did not endorse bringing a cash bail system back to New Jersey, something Republican lawmakers and many in law enforcement have been calling for.

"I don't think this is bail reform, and people will take shots at me for that. I don't think that's the fulcrum here," said Murphy. "My personal opinion is it's treating juveniles different, as if they were adults."

Car theft in New Jersey has skyrocketed so far this year compared to 2021 and 2020, the Attorney General has said.

The News 12 host then continued:

"It's conceivable, that someone speeding away from a house could, God forbid, mow a family down or maybe one day, someone picks the wrong house and it results in a gun fight."

Murphy nodded in agreement.

"That's all gotta be considered," he said. "This is serious stuff. Now, it's not at the level of gun crimes. But it's a serious crime and almost invariably the criminals are associated with other serious crimes, including gun crimes."

Here is the full interview Tuesday night; Murphy responds to the car theft near his home at minute 32:00 https://newjersey.news12.com/a...

According to Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden, of the four dozen people arrested and charged with car theft in Monmouth County so far this year, more than half were re-arrested on similar charges within a few days of their arrest. In New Jersey today, only those charged with the most serious of crimes, such as murder or rape, are held on a cash bail. Many people charged with crimes are released shortly after being arrested, with a summons to appear in court.

Initial Patch report: Car Theft Attempted Near Gov. Murphy's Middletown Home (Sept. 13)