NORTH BRUNSWICK – Despite charging a group of juveniles in relation to a series of vehicle burglaries, township officials still caution residents to lock their car doors.
Patrol units were conducting operations on Feb. 20 in response to a recent car burglary spree in the Berdines Corner area of North Brunswick when a resident reported a suspicious person.
Plain-clothed units converged to find three juveniles from the North Brunswick/New Brunswick area who will be charged accordingly with numerous counts of burglary and theft, according to information provided by the North Brunswick Police Department.
The burglaries took place at night, and all were to unlocked vehicles, police said.
“The common denominator we are finding out is that these cars that are broken into are being left unlocked,” Councilman Carlo Socio said during the Feb. 19 Township Council meeting.
Police Director Kenneth McCormick concurred, saying video footage shows teens or young adults “walking up and down the street, pulling on car handles, and if the door opens up, they’ll go inside the car.”
He said laptops, wallets, pocketbooks, identification, etc. have been reported stolen.
Socio said that was a victim of a vehicle burglary. He said his vehicle was locked but after his daughter retrieved something from the car, they forgot to relock the vehicle and he noticed the next morning his vehicle was broken into.
“It’s very difficult to control” McCormick said in regards to stopping this type of crime, because it is a “crime of opportunity.”
“We ask residents really to just be mindful and lock their vehicles,” he said.
Contact Jennifer Amato at [email protected].