Police: At Least 11 Vehicles Broken Into Early Monday

Cedar Grove Police are looking for three men who they believe entered nearly a dozen parked vehicles in the early morning hours of Monday, Aug. 28, stealing a variety of valuables and electronics from residents' cars as they slept.

The first report of the apparent string of thefts came around 6:15 a.m. Monday, when a Beech Street resident called to report three men milling around her driveway, who left the area shortly after she saw them in a black vehicle with a rear spoiler and a loud exhaust pipe.

When police arrived at the residence, they saw her parked vehicle showed signs of an attempted forced entry. They put out a call to surrounding towns using the State Police Emergency Network (SPEN) with the suspects' and vehicle's description, but the suspected thieves were not found.

After receiving the initial report, police took ten more calls reporting thefts from parked vehicles on nearby streets. Items reported stolen ranged from GPS units and radar detectors to jewelry and cash. Police say some of the vehicles were broken into, but others were left unlocked overnight.

The thefts follow a trend over the past several months that has turned Essex County driveways into veritable smörgåsbords for thieves, who, using the cloak of night, have taken advantage of cars left unlocked to make off with countless valuables, and in some cases, the cars themselves.

In late June, three vehicles were stolen from driveways in the same night in Verona, which Verona Police Chief Doug Huber said was unprecedented in the township.

The suspects in Monday's series of Cedar Grove vehicle thefts are being described as two white men and one black man with long dreadlocks. They were last seen traveling south on Pompton Avenue.

Cedar Grove Police Chief Richard Vanderstreet said Tuesday that his department believes the thefts are connected, and is actively seeking tips from residents who may have seen something. A bulletin with the suspects' descriptions has been sent to surrounding police departments.

Despite the timing of the thefts, Vanderstreet said he wouldn't necessarily connect the crimes to the aftermath of Hurricane Irene.

"Crimes like this have been occurring in Essex County towns over the last 4-5 months. I wouldn't necessarily associate this with the aftermath of the hurricane," he said.

Vanderstreet said detectives have processed several of the vehicles for physical evidence, but said he did not know what specific evidence has been recovered yet.

In the wake of these thefts, police are again urging residents to lock and alarm their vehicles at night, and not to leave valuables inside them.