Car Worth $148,000 Stolen from Lawrence Dealership

A sports car valued at almost $148,000 was stolen from the Princeton Porsche dealership in Lawrence Township sometime overnight, police confirmed.

The theft is the latest in a spate of crimes to strike auto dealerships in the township.

The black, four-door 2011 Porsche Panamera Turbo was stolen from the dealership in the 330 block of Brunswick Pike (Route 1) sometime between 3:30 p.m. Monday (Sept. 26) and 7:20 a.m. today (Tuesday, Sept. 27), according to Lt. Charles Edgar, spokesman for the Lawrence Township Police Department.

He said management at Princeton Porsche notified police of the crime about 10 a.m. today after employees this morning discovered the vehicle to be missing from its parking space and searched the dealership’s lot without success.

Two possible suspects have been identified in the theft. Edgar said the men went to the dealership Monday afternoon and, after suggesting they had a significant amount of money to spend, went for a test drive in the vehicle.

A salesman operated the sports car during the entire test drive, but the men allegedly switched keys somehow without the salesman catching on. The men left the dealership with the Porsche’s real key and, police suspect, later returned to the lot overnight and used that key to steal the vehicle, Edgar said.

One of the men was described as being white, about 20 to 25 years old, 5 feet 9 to 10 inches tall with a thin build, with dark hair in a long ponytail, wearing jeans and a long-sleeved striped dress shirt. The other man was white or Hispanic, 20 to 25 years old, 5 feet 6 to 8 inches tall with a thin build, with short dark hair and tattoos on both arms, wearing a dark T-shirt and jeans.

Among the other recent crimes to strike auto dealerships in the township are the following:

Dick Greenfield Dodge

At least 15 vehicles were broken into at in the 2700 block of Brunswick Pike (Business Route 1) sometime between 9 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 23, and 7:45 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 24, Edgar said.

Nearly all of the vehicles had their driver’s door windows smashed out. It is not yet clear if anything was stolen from the vehicles.

Dick Greenfield Dodge

At 11:39 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 22, police were notified that several items had been stolen from a customer’s vehicle at the Dick Greenfield Dodge dealership sometime between 9 p.m. Sept. 17 and the morning of Sept. 22.

Stolen from the 1997 Jeep were school textbooks, three compact discs and a military-style rucksack, Edgar said. He said the theft was discovered when the owner, a 22-year-old East Windsor resident, picked up the vehicle after having had it serviced at the dealership. He said no evidence of forced entry was found to the vehicle.

Coleman Cadillac

At 7:34 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 21, police were called to the Coleman Cadillac dealership on Renaissance Boulevard after employees there discovered a customer’s 2009 Cadillac Escalade resting on concrete blocks, with its tires and rims missing.  

Edgar said the missing parts were worth about $10,000. He said the crime is believed to have happened between 2 p.m. on Sept. 20 and the morning of Sept. 21. The vehicle belongs to a 62-year-old resident of Hamilton Township.

Lawrence Toyota

At 8:21 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 20, management at Lawrence Toyota in the 2800 block of Brunswick Pike (Route 1) called police to report that someone had broken into or attempted to break into a total of 10 vehicles sometime between that morning and the previous evening, Edgar said.

He said six vehicles had their driver’s windows smashed out, while the remaining four vehicles had marks on them indicating that someone had tried to force their way inside. Some of the vehicles belonged to customers. It was unclear if anything was actually stolen from the vehicles.

Lawrence Township police ask anyone with information about any of the above crimes to call detectives at (609) 896-1111.