Verona Police on Guard Following Rash of Car Thefts

Verona Police are stepping up nightly patrols following a surge in the number of stolen cars in recent weeks, including a single night last week during which three cars were stolen from residents' driveways.

"I've been working in Verona for 30 years, and we've never had three cars stolen in one night," Verona Police Chief Doug Huber said Friday.

In addition to the unprecedented number of car thefts, which police say happened during the overnight hours of Tuesday, June 15, at least three other incidents of vehicles being illegally entered in the township were reported.

Of the six reported incidents that night, five were within a few block radius.

On Martin Road, a 2010 Acura was stolen overnight, and a second vehicle parked in the driveway next to it was ransacked, but police said nothing was stolen. Another car at a separate Martin Road residence was also stolen.

On Woodland Avenue, barely a quarter-mile away, a 2009 Nissan was reported stolen from the driveway. Police took reports of two other illegal vehicle entries on Woodland Avenue, but said nothing was stolen in those incidents.

On Saturday, June 18, police say a car was stolen outside of the Towne Scoop on Bloomfield Ave., which was parked, running, with the keys in the ignition.

Huber noted that Fairfield Police arrested five suspects in connection with a spree of more than half a dozen stolen cars in Fairfield just two days after the Verona thefts, and said the crimes could be related to gang activity in nearby urban centers.

"I don't know if I'd call it a trend. We're hoping it was someting going on between a group of inner city youths trying to do some kind of initiation," he said.

However, Huber said the issue at hand was that none of the stolen vehicles in Verona had been hot wired, nor had entry into them been forced. In each instance, there was a security breach involving the key.

"It's really hard to steal a car with electronic keys. That's why carjacking numbers are up and thefts are down. If you lock your car, an alarm is going to go off and won't run if someone tries to start it," said Huber.

Huber said two of the victims had lost their keys shortly before the their cars were stolen, and another victim may have had a valet key in the vehicle that a thief exploited.

When asked how residents can better protect themselves against thefts from their cars, he said, "Don't leave your keys in the car. Always lock the doors and make sure you don't have the valet key in the glove box."

Huber said his department has increased the number of officers patrolling the streets at night, and said they are paying special attention to suspicious vehicles parked in the streets.

"We've got people out looking for vehicles that don't belong there at night, we've got extra officers out there because we want to make sure this doesn't happen again in Verona."