Crime & Safety

Fanwood Police: 27 Vehicles Broken into Wednesday

All of the cars were unlocked.

The south side of Fanwood was hit hard with vehicle break-ins between the hours of 11 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 16, and 5 a.m., Thursday, Dec. 17.

Twenty-seven cars were broken into during that period, all either parked on the street or in the driveways of a residential area.

"We were hammered," Lt. Richard Trigo said.

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All of the vehicles were unlocked at the time, Trigo said. Some residents had items removed from their vehicles, while others just had their belongings rifled through.

"One GPS was taken, a wallet, some various small items," Trigo said. "Some just went through and the items of value were left behind."

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Trigo noted that there's no real rhyme or reason why some valuable items are stolen and not others. At times it depends on what may be easier for the burglar to get rid of, he said.

"People are leaving their cars open, and you've got to realize that a lot of times during the holidays, crime goes up," Trigo said. "People need to lock their doors and lock their vehicles. Take precautionary measures. When we started canvassing the area that was hit, some people said they heard their dogs barking around that time. Don't take things for granted."

Days before the wave of vehicle break-ins on the south side, two other vehicles in Fanwood were broken into by force.

The first occurred on the 50 block of Elm Avenue. Police say that sometime between 8 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 13, and 7 a.m., Monday, Dec. 14, someone broke the side window of a locked vehicle and removed a GPS system.

That same night, a resident of the 100 block of Farley Avenue reported that someone broke the driver's side window of their vehicle, but they have yet to determine if anything was missing.

Trigo said he's unsure at this time if the two incidents were related. He would not go into detail about what cops are doing to investigate the crimes, but noted that similar incidents have occurred in other neighboring jurisdictions, so Fanwood police is working with other departments, including Scotch Plains, on the case.

"Because we completely surround Fanwood, we're in contact," Scotch Plains' police Lt. Brian Donnelly said. "Can we say it's just one person doing these? It's hard to say."

When asked whether it's best to leave your vehicle locked or unlocked, since both are being broken into in the area, Donnelly said that he is always an advocate for locking the doors.

"Why are you going to willingly give up your stuff?" he asked. "People think, 'if I leave my car unlocked, people won't smash the window,' but a lot of times people will be walking along trying doors, looking for the ones that are unlocked."

Donnelly noted that a lot of times with incidents in which a window was smashed, the burglar saw something of value in sight and went after it.

"If the person sees something they like, whether you left packages, a pocketbook, an iPod, a gym bag, they're going to get it," he said. "But the majority of the car burglaries we get are unlocked doors."


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