More Burglaries Reported, But Police Arrest 2 Suspects

Two men – one with a history of burglary convictions dating back to the mid-1980s – have been arrested as suspects in separate crimes that were among six new burglaries and attempted break-ins that occurred in Lawrence Township during the past week, the township police department announced late Friday afternoon (Oct. 7).

Detectives are still investigating and questioning the two men to determine if they had any involvement in any of the more than two dozen other burglaries and attempted burglaries that took place in the township in the last month and a half.

“As you’ve reported, we’ve had numerous incidents where property has been stolen from garages and sheds, and we’ve had several commercial and residential burglaries. We’re obviously looking to see if either of these suspects is responsible for any of them, but we're also still on the lookout for [other suspects],” said Lt. Charles Edgar, police department spokesman.

Township police will continue to have “stepped-up” patrols, he said. “We’re still out there.”

Golden Empire

The most recent burglary took place early Friday, Oct. 7, at the Golden Empire restaurant in the 2700 block of Brunswick Pike (Business Route 1). Taken into custody and charged in connection with that crime was Paul L. Brown Jr., 48, whose last known address is on Route 38 in Mount Holly, according to Edgar.

Since the 1980s, Brown has been convicted of at least 16 counts of burglary and several parole violations, according to the New Jersey Department of Correction’s online offender database. Among those charges were a dozen related to burglaries Brown committed to businesses along the Route 1 corridor in Lawrence Township in the late 1990s. The NJ DOC database shows that Brown was incarcerated between June 1986 and July 1996 and again from January 2000 to August 2004.

Edgar said Officer James Larkin was on patrol when he spotted Brown walking along Route 1 in the area of Carnegie Road just after 6 a.m. Friday.   

“We’ve been making major efforts to solve these burglaries. Officer Larkin saw Mr. Brown, recognized him and knew who he was from our past interactions from him. Larkin stopped him for investigative purposes based on those past dealings and the recent burglary activity that has been occurring in the township,” Edgar said. “Upon Larkin speaking to him, Mr. Brown was found to have drug paraphernalia on him.”

But that, allegedly, wasn’t all that Brown had in his possession.

“Mr. Brown had an item on him that made the officer want to inspect the Golden Empire restaurant,” Edgar said, noting that the Chinese restaurant is perhaps less than a quarter-mile from where Larkin stopped Brown.  “So backup officers went over to the restaurant and discovered it had been burglarized by somebody smashing the front door in. The cash register had been entered and an amount of money was stolen.”

Edgar declined to identify the item that linked Brown to the restaurant. He said less than $100 was stolen from the register. Brown was arrested on multiple charges, including burglary, theft, criminal mischief and possession of drug paraphernalia, he said.

by someone who also smashed the front door. It is unclear at this time if Brown is a suspect in that crime, which was among .

Haveson Avenue

Mark A. Young, 45, of Florence Avenue, Ewing was arrested about 6:45 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 6, and charged with burglary and theft in connection with a break-in that occurred that morning to a garage on Haveson Avenue, according to Edgar.

“Detective William Chester was working overnight as part of a burglary detail we’ve had in operation. He was patrolling the area of Brunswick Avenue and observed Mr. Young on a bicycle carrying a backpack leaf blower,” Edgar said. “Chester deemed it to be suspicious and, knowing we’ve had numerous sheds broken into over the last several weeks involving the theft of lawn equipment, he stopped Mr. Young for questioning.”

While Chester and backup officers were interviewing Young, a resident of Haveson Avenue called police to report that someone had broken into his garage and stolen a backpack-style leaf blower, Edgar said. He said Young was arrested after the Haveson Avenue resident confirmed for police that the blower that had been stolen from his garage and the blower police found in Young’s possession were one in the same.

Gedney Road

At 4:44 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 3, a 37-year-old resident of Gedney Road called police to report that a burglar had just been in her house. Edgar said the resident told police she returned home sometime after 4 p.m. and was upstairs when she heard the home’s side door open and close, followed by footsteps downstairs.

Believing it was her husband arriving home, she called out to him. There was no answer and she instead heard the footsteps retreat and the side door again open and close, Edgar said. Going downstairs, the woman quickly realized that her husband was not yet home. After checking that her daughter – who had been downstairs at the time – had not made the sounds, the woman notified police of the intruder, Edgar said.

He said nothing appeared to have been stolen from the residence. As the intruder was never seen by the woman or her daughter, no description was available, he said.

Mercer Meadows

At 1:47 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 4, township police were notified that someone had burglarized a Mercer County-owned barn used to store maintenance equipment at Mercer Meadows (formerly known as Mercer County Park Northwest), located off Cold Soil Road and Keefe Road.

Edgar said the burglar gained entry to the building by forcing aside a piece of plywood covering a window. While it did not appear that anything had been stolen, someone vandalized a toilet and lockers, doing about $350 worth of damage, he said. 

Colonial Lanes

At 1:29 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 5, township police were called to the former Colonial Lanes bowling alley in the 2400 block of Brunswick Pike (Business Route 1) after workers discovered that someone had cut the locks off two trailers and stolen at least $3,773 worth of tools from the trailers sometime between Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning, Edgar said.

One of the trailers belonged to the property owner and the other belonged to Extreme Building Makeover, the contractor working on the construction project .   

Vermont Street

At 1:43 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 5, a 44-year-old resident of Vermont Street called police to report that earlier in the day, about 4:30 a.m., someone tried to break into his house.

Edgar said the resident told police he went into the bathroom after returning home from work. As he exited the bathroom, he saw a figure at his kitchen window looking inside. The person at the window fled, and the resident was unable to get a close enough look to provide police with any detailed description.

Upon checking outside, Edgar said, the resident discovered that a chair had been placed below the kitchen window and that the screen in the window had been tampered with. It was unclear why the man waited until the afternoon to report the crime.

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

Other similar crimes during the last month and a half (with the dates on which they were reported) include:

• Oct. 2: Burglary: Keefe Road
• Sept. 30: Attempted Burglary, 900 block Lawrence Road
• Sept. 30: Burglary, Roxboro Road
• Sept. 30: Burglary, Trenton Police Athletic League, Betts Avenue
• Sept. 26: Burglary, Cherry Tree Lane
• Sept. 26: Burglary, Cobblestone Way
• Sept. 26: Burglary, Canal View Drive
• Sept. 26: Attempted Burglary, 1700 block Brunswick Pike
• Sept. 23: Burglary, 1700 block Brunswick Pike
• Sept. 23: Burglary, Foodwerx Café, Lenox Drive
• Sept. 21: Attempted Burglary, Franklin Tavern, Franklin Corner Road
• Sept. 17: Burglary (Arrests Made), Spruce Street
• Sept. 17: Burglary, Valley Forge Avenue
• Sept. 17: Burglary, Mabel Avenue
• Sept. 15: Burglary, Lawn Park Avenue
• Sept. 15: Attempted Burglary, Capt. Paul’s Firehouse Dogs, Princeton Pike
• Sept. 14: Burglary, Sunoco, 1700 block Brunswick Pike
• Sept. 14: Burglary, Ohio Avenue
• Sept. 10 Burglary, Trumbull Avenue
• Sept. 9: Attempted Burglary, Lawrence Anthony Fine Jewelers, Brunswick Pike
• Sept. 9: Burglary, Bakers Basin Road
• Aug. 29: Burglary, Capitol Car Wash, Princeton Avenue
• Aug. 26: Burglary, Glendale Liquors, Quakerbridge Road
• Aug. 26: Burglary, Pathway Car Care, Princeton Avenue
• Aug. 23: Burglary, Michigan Avenue

See Also:

Oct. 3 -

Sept. 30 -

Sept. 27 -

Sept. 27 - Car Worth $148,000 Stolen from Lawrence Dealership

Sept. 27 -

Sept. 26 -          

Sept. 22 -

Sept. 20 -

Sept. 16 - Home on Lawn Park Avenue Burglarized, Ransacked

Sept. 15 - Attempted Burglary at Captain Paul's & Two Other Burglaries Under Investigation by Lawrence PD

Sept. 15 -

Sept. 14 - $10,000 Worth of Property Stolen from Lawrence Twp. Family Left Homeless by Hurricane Irene Flood Waters

Sept. 14 - Stolen Bicycle Found in Possession of 13-Year-Old

Sept. 13 -

Sept. 8 -

Aug. 19 -

Aug. 19 -

Aug. 17 -