More Cell Tower Batteries Stolen In Essex County: Police

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — Thieves continue to pick off cellular towers and storage areas for their payloads of valuable but hefty batteries in Essex County, authorities say.

Police in Belleville and Millburn reported that several industrial-size batteries went missing in their towns last month, the latest incidents in a string of separate thefts throughout the county that date back years.

Here’s what officers had to say about the latest thefts:

• Bellville Police Department: “Officers responded to a report of a theft form a shed at 3:15 p.m. on July 3 at Lavergne Street. Upon arrival, officers spoke to a worker who stated that someone had cut the pad lock off aa Sprint storage shed and took 16 batteries valued at $200 each.”
• Millburn Police Department: “On July 18, a Millburn police officer responded to the Community Congregational Church on Hartshorn Drive on a theft report. A T-Mobile employee told the officer that someone stole eight back-up batteries and two connector cords valued at $2,100 from a gated area on the property sometime within the past 24 hours.”

The batteries can sometimes weigh hundreds of pounds each, but can fetch a decent dollar on the scrap metal market.

July’s thefts are not the first times that cell tower batteries have gone missing in North Jersey.

In April, police charged a man with burglary after he allegedly stole dozens of batteries from several cell towers in Mahwah.

Police said the man allegedly entered the utility box at the base of each cell tower, disabled the alarms by placing tape over the activators and removed the batteries. Authorities believe the batteries were sold to scrap metal businesses; they were valued at more than $10,000.

• See related article: Arrest Made In Mahwah Cell Tower Battery Thefts

In May, the Parsippany Police Department reported that 28 cell tower batteries were stolen from a Lake Shore Drive cell tower.

Someone entered a fenced off area around the tower to take the batteries; police are not sure if multiple people were involved. The stolen batteries were valued at around $6,300.

• See related article: 28 Cell Tower Batteries Stolen: Parsippany Police

In August 2016, Belleville police said that someone stole three dozen utility batteries from a Sprint cellular tower. The value of the batteries was estimated at $6,800, police said.

• See related article: Belleville Cops Search For Cell Tower Battery Thieves

In April 2016, Nutley police responded to Cook Road to take a theft report at the AT&T cellular site. According to police, 28 batteries valued at $500 each were allegedly stolen from the property.

Police stated that in addition to the stolen batteries, the property was discovered unlocked and five locks with passcodes were also found to be missing.

• See related article: 28 Batteries Stolen From ATT Cellular Site In Nutley

In March 2016, Cedar Grove police reported that an unknown suspect stole eight backup batteries from the AT&T cellular tower site behind 93 Pompton Avenue.

The value of the batteries was estimated at $4,320, police said.

• See related article: $4K Cell Tower Batteries Stolen In Cedar Grove

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