BY LAUREN MATTHEW
Staff Writer
OLD BRIDGE – Police are investigating a rash of five cases of criminal mischief that took place in residential neighborhoods over the weekend.
Each instance is believed to have occurred late Saturday night or early Sunday morning, according to police reports.
At 9:01 a.m. Sunday, an officer responded to a call of criminal mischief to a car parked on Southwood Drive. According to the car owner, the silver 2002 Nissan Sentra was parked in front of her residence when someone smashed the rear passenger-side window.
The owner estimated the cost of replacing the window at about $500. She also told police she did not know who might have damaged the car.
The officer who responded to that call proceeded to inspect other cars parked on Southwood Drive. He came across a red 2002 Ford Explorer with its rear driver-side window smashed. Initial attempts to contact the owner of the vehicle were unsuccessful, according to police.
An Austin Avenue resident reported a similar instance Sunday, noting that it occurred between 9 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. Sunday. The driver-side window of the resident’s 1997 GMC Sierra pickup truck had been shattered.
A call also came Sunday from a Bentley Avenue resident who told police that sometime overnight, two tires on his 1993 Honda Accord had been slashed.
A Madison Avenue resident reported that his neighbor heard dogs barking, looked out the window and saw several people around his 1994 Chevy Blazer. The group then ran off into a waiting vehicle. The resident said that when he went outside Sunday morning, he saw that all four of the tires on the Blazer had been slashed, as well as the truck’s spare tire.
According to Old Bridge Police Lt. Robert Weiss, the cases may all be related, and are under investigation.