Lawrence Woman Interrupts Burglary in Her Home

A Lawrence Township woman arrived home to find an intruder in her residence Friday evening, Jan. 20.

Startled in the act of burglarizing the home, the man reportedly suggested to the woman that he was armed with a gun before he ran out the front door and disappeared.

Police officers from Lawrence Township and the City of Trenton scoured the neighborhood around the woman’s home in the 1000 block of Brunswick Avenue but did not locate the burglar.

It was the third burglary of the day in Lawrence Township, following an early morning break-in on Myrtle Avenue during which a pet dog was stolen and an afternoon break-in on West Long Drive in which jewelry was taken.  

Lawrence Township Police Sgt. Gary Schenck said it was 6:12 p.m. Friday when a female resident called police to report that she had just returned to her Brunswick Avenue home and had discovered a stranger inside.

Schenck declined to release details about what exactly the burglar said to the woman before he fled from the residence, but he confirmed that when she called 911 the woman told police that she feared the man might be armed.

No weapon was ever seen by the woman, however, he said.

An initial check of the residence by the woman suggests nothing is missing and the burglar fled empty-handed, he said.  

Schenck said the burglar was described as a black male who was wearing a black Down jacket and a black and white skullcap. He confirmed that a man was detained for questioning in the area of North Olden Avenue and Pennsylvania Avenue in Trenton near the Lawrence border but that man was released after it was confirmed he was not the burglar.

Officer Chris Schuster and township detectives are investigating the crime, including determining exactly how the burglar gained entry to the house, he said.

The burglary on West Long Drive – which is located in a neighborhood off Lawrence Road (Route 206) directly behind Lawrence Township’s municipal building and police headquarters – was reported at 4:03 p.m. Friday, Schenck said.

A resident called police to report that when she returned home about 3:30 p.m. she found her door ajar and, after checking the interior, realized that jewelry had been stolen, he said.

He said the West Long Drive break-in was believed to have happened sometime between when the woman left the residence Friday morning about 8:30 a.m. and when she returned home about 3:30 p.m.

Officer Mark Harmon and detectives are conducting that investigation.

The Myrtle Avenue burglary, as already reported on Lawrenceville Patch, was reported to police about 6:50 a.m. Friday and involved the theft of a 4-month-old Maltese puppy, the dog’s bedding and some dog toys.

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