POLICE BEAT 08/09

From the Aug. 9 edition of the Register-News

By:
FLORENCE
   Three boys, two 15 and the other 13 years old, all students at the Florence Township High School, were charged with burglary, theft and obstruction of justice after police said they broke into the school at 9:49 p.m. Aug. 4.
   Items allegedly stolen from the school included snack foods and school supplies, said police. The teens, all township residents, were released to their parents.
   The students had apparently entered the school through an unsecured rear door, said police.
BORDENTOWN TOWNSHIP
   Calvin J. Settle, 25, of Jersey City was charged with possession of a stolen vehicle on July 28, police said.
   Patrolman Wayne Lebak, driving north on Route 206, noticed a tan Mitsubishi Montero with an expired registration sticker that appeared to be partially scraped off, police said.
   A computer check showed that Mr. Settle had a suspended driver’s license, and that the car he was driving had been reported stolen from Jersey City on July 13, police said.
   Mr. Settle and his two passengers were taken to police headquarters, where the two passengers denied knowing that the car was stolen, police said.
   Both passengers were later released. Mr. Settle told police that he had just borrowed the car from a friend, said police reports.
   Mr. Settle was found to have a $500 outstanding warrant from Newark, bail was set at $10,000, and he was sent to the Burlington County Jail for a later court date, police said.
   On July 27, an employee of the Town and Country Diner reported that his 1994 Ford Taurus had been stolen.
   He said he had left the car in the parking lot of the diner for the past several days because of a loose muffler, police said. He said he last saw his car at 1:30 a.m. July 26, and when he came back to work the following day at 2:30 p.m. it was gone.
   A Cedar Lane resident on July 15 reported his 1992 purple Honda Civic was stolen between 2 and 9:33 a.m., police said. The car was then registered as a stolen vehicle, and an hour later the car had been recovered by police in Morrisville, Pa., police said.
   The car was found to have a broken driver side window, all four tires missing, a missing steering column and a missing radio, police said.
   On Aug. 2 an Anthony Court resident told police his mother had seen two or three men trying to steal his 1992 white Acura Integra.
   According to police, the thieves ran away when the victim came out of his house. They were seen entering another car, made a left onto Williamsburg Drive and headed toward Route 528, police said.
   The thieves damaged the car’s door lock by trying to break in, and then smashed the car window, police said.
   A Hanover Court resident on Aug. 31 told Sgt. Michael Crawford that someone had tried to enter her car by popping the lock on the passenger side door.
   Police reports show that someone had used a prying tool to remove the door lock but did not get into the car.
   No other vehicles in the area showed any sign of being tampered with, police said. The owner of the car said she parked the car at 5 p.m. the day before, and found her lock missing the next morning, police said.