Crime & Safety

Police Blotter: Couple Allegedly Tried to Break Into Cars

Here's a roundup of notable police activity in Lawrence Township from May 21 through May 24.

Burglary

Two people – Garrett P. McGann, 34, of the 600 block of Concord Circle in Ewing and Koryanne Bilbee Vestal, 32, of the 100 block of Ridge Drive, Middletown, Pa. – were charged with attempted burglary after they were allegedly observed trying to get into several parked cars at Mercer Mall on Saturday, May 21, according to Lt. Charles Edgar, spokesman for the Lawrence Township Police Department.

It was 8:51 p.m. when police received a report that a “suspicious” man and woman were wandering around the parking lot of the mall in the 3300 block of Brunswick Pike (Route 1). The two were allegedly looking inside random parked cars and trying to open the doors, Edgar said.

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Officers responded to the area and took the pair into custody after allegedly watching them approach and “try the doors” of several vehicles near the Cheeburger Cheeburger restaurant, he said.

As part of the subsequent investigation, officers went to a room that McGann and Vestal had rented at the Sleep-E-Hollow motel in the 3000 block of Brunswick Pike (Route 1), Edgar said. Inside the room, he said, officers discovered a hypodermic syringe and a pipe commonly used to smoke crack cocaine. As a result, he said, McGann was also charged with possession of drug paraphernalia.

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DUI

A Lawrence Township resident – Ryan M. Andreola, 21, of Barclay Court – was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving during the early hours of Saturday, May 21, Edgar said.

Officer Chris DiMeglio was on patrol in the area of Brunswick Pike (Route 1) and Bakers Basin Road when he allegedly observed Andreola driving in an erratic manner, Edgar said. He said DiMeglio stopped Andreola’s 2002 Toyota Corolla.

In speaking to the driver, DiMeglio allegedly detected an odor of alcohol coming from Andreola, Edgar said. Based on the results of a field sobriety test that was administered to Andreola, he said, the 21-year-old was arrested by DiMeglio and charged with driving under the influence and reckless driving.

Two 16-year-old girls were traveling as passengers in the car. As a result, Edgar said, Andreola was also charged with another offense – DUI while having minors in his vehicle.

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Drug Arrest

Two women were arrested and charged with drug-related offenses after their car was stopped by police because one of them was allegedly not wearing a seat belt while they were driving during the evening of Tuesday, May 24, Edgar said.

He said Officer Marc Poveromo spotted Devon J. Chatham, 27, of Dailey Drive in Hamilton Township, driving a 2008 Mazda with Courtney Strout, 28, of the 3000 block of Nottingham Way in Hamilton, riding as her passenger. One of the women was not wearing a seat belt, he said, so Poveromo stopped the vehicle shortly before 9:40 p.m. on Whitehead Road near the Trenton Freeway (Route 1).

A routine background check revealed that Chatham was wanted in connection with outstanding warrants from Hamilton and Burlington County, while Strout was wanted on an outstanding warrant from Bordentown, according to Edgar.

After both women were taken into custody on the warrants, police allegedly found that Strout had a hypodermic syringe and a small bag containing suspected heroin residue, Edgar said.

He said Strout was charged with heroin possession and possession of drug paraphernalia. Chatham was also charged with possession of drug paraphernalia after plastic baggies commonly used to hold drugs were found in her purse, according to Edgar.

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Criminal Mischief

A 57-year-old resident of the 300 block of Glenn Avenue called police at 2:20 p.m. on Saturday, May 21, to report that someone had thrown a piece of landscaping slate through the rear window of his vehicle, a Volvo, Edgar said. He said another piece of slate was found tossed onto the hood of the vehicle.

Damage was estimated to be over $250. The victim told police he believed the crime took place between 3 a.m. and 7 a.m. that day, Edgar said.

After the victim had the vehicle repaired, police were called back to the residence about 1 a.m. on Monday, May 30, after someone smashed out the rear window using a large stick or log, Edgar said. The victim told police he spotted a “dark vehicle” occupied by three men leaving the area but he did not know for certain that they were responsible for the damage.

The victim told police he could not think of anyone with whom he had had any recent problems or disputes. Officers Ed Podbielski and Andrew Lee are investigating the incidents.

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Shoplifting

Fatima M. McNair, 19, of the 100 block of Monmouth Street in Trenton, was arrested about 4:45 p.m. on Saturday, May 21, after she allegedly stole four necklaces – worth a total of $144 – from the J.C. Penney department store at Quaker Bridge Mall in the 3300 block of Brunswick Pike (Route 1), according to Edgar.

He said McNair allegedly concealed the necklaces in her purse and then left the store without paying. She was followed and detained by store loss prevention officials. At first, she allegedly provided a false name to police and signed that fake name to a police document, Edgar said.

But Sgt. Chris Longo soon learned her true identity and discovered that she was wanted in connection with $1,131 worth of warrants from Trenton, Edgar said. He said McNair was charged with shoplifting, obstructing justice and tampering with public records.

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Shoplifting

A 17-year-old girl from the 1700 block of Sixth Street in Ewing was arrested about 7:40 p.m. on Saturday, May 21, after she allegedly stole six T-shirts worth a total of $120 from the J.C. Penney store at Quaker Bridge Mall, Edgar said. He said the girl allegedly hid the shirts in a shopping bag she was carrying and then left the store without paying. She was detained by store loss prevention officials and later charged with shoplifting by Sgt. Chris Longo.

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Criminal Mischief

A 50-year-old woman called police at 12:46 p.m. on Monday, May 23, to report that someone had keyed her 2005 Honda CRV, from the driver’s side front quarter panel to the rear quarter panel, while it was parked in Lot N of Quaker Bridge Mall, Edgar said. Damage was estimated at several hundred dollars, he said.

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Theft

Officer James Vardanega is investigating who dug up and stole 85 raspberry plants, 24 strawberry pants and one blackberry plant – worth a total of $850 – from Village Farms in the 3000 block of Lawrence Road (Route 206) sometime between the evening of Monday, May 23, and the morning of Tuesday, May 24. Owners of the farm called police at 10:03 a.m. on Tuesday to report the crime.

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Drug Arrest

Kelly Traband, 26, of Dunns Mill Road in Bordentown Township was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana on Tuesday, May 25, according to Edgar.

He said police received a call at 11:57 a.m. about a “suspicious” vehicle behind a business in the 2900 block of Brunswick Pike (Route 1). Responding officers found a man in the driver’s seat. While interviewing him, officials observe the man’s passenger – later identified as Traband – walking back toward the vehicle.

When she saw the officers, she allegedly tossed away a small baggie that police recovered and found to be marijuana, Edgar said. He said she was taken into custody. No charges were filed against the man.

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Trespassing

Carmelo Galloway, 38, of Brooklyn, N.Y., was arrested on Tuesday, May 24, and charged with defiant trespassing and related charges, including possession of a device typically used to remove anti-shoplifting security tags, Edgar said.

He said loss prevention officials at the Lord & Taylor department store at Quaker Bridge Mall called police at 1:52 p.m. after they spotted Galloway in the store and recognized him as a suspect in prior shopliftings at Lord & Taylors in other malls. As a result of those past incidents, Galloway had been banned from all Lord & Taylor stores, he said.

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Theft

Officer Marc Poveromo was assigned to investigate the theft of a book of prescription blanks from the Lawrenceville Neurology Center in the 3100 block of Princeton Pike. Edgar said staff at the medical office called police at 3:31 p.m. on Tuesday, May 24, Edgar said. He said staff said the theft may have happened as long ago as November 2008 and that some of the stolen blanks may have been used to fraudulently obtain medications.

Anyone with information about any of the above crimes is asked to call Lawrence Township police at (609) 896-1111.

A copy of Lawrence Township's police dispatch log for Saturday, May 21, through Tuesday, May 24, 2011, can be viewed from the PDF box above. This log lists all significant calls for service and incidents for which officers filed a written report. Routine administrative assignments are omitted. Some data has been redacted to protect the identity of crime victims.


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