Residents Urged to Lock Car Doors After String of Thefts

Police are urging residents to secure their possessions by locking their vehicle doors at night, after a number of vehicles were ransacked overnight last week.

On Friday, Jan. 6, Cedar Grove Police investigated several burglaries to parked motor vehicles reported by residents of Daniel Drive, Old Quarry Road and Young Avenue. An investigation revealed unlocked vehicles in the area had been entered and ransacked during the night. A number of items, including a cell phone, wallet and credit cards, were stolen. 

In an incident believed to be related to the vehicle burglaries, police responded to the Mountainview Drive/Hillsdale Road area at 3:08 a.m. on Jan. 6 on a citizen’s report of a suspicious dark Sport Utility Vehicle that appeared to be stopping and casing parked vehicles. Upon arrival, the described vehicle had left the area and could not be located.

Verona Police subsequently observed a vehicle matching the description. The vehicle, a 2011 Acura SUV that had been reported as stolen in Newark, but it would not stop, and was last seen traveling east on Bloomfield Avenue into Montclair. 

Following the incidents, police are again urging residents to lock and alarm their motor vehicles when unattended, especially during the overnight hours if valuables must be left in vehicles overnight.