More Houses Burglarized, Three Vehicles Stolen as Outbreak of Crime Continues in Lawrence Township

Two more Lawrence Township homes were burglarized, someone tried to break into another house, three vehicles were stolen, and numerous items were removed from a half-dozen unsecured vehicles in Lawrence Township in crimes that were all reported during the 72-hour period running from Friday, Sept. 30, through Sunday, Oct. 2.

Assorted jewelry, a computer, video game consoles, GPS units and other property were stolen during the burglaries and the vehicle break-ins, according to township police.

One of the stolen vehicles was recovered after it was involved in a traffic accident in Philadelphia, while the other two stolen vehicles were located behind a derelict house in Trenton.

The crimes reported this past weekend are the latest in the rash of burglaries and thefts that has plagued the township for more than a month.

Lt. Charles Edgar, spokesman for Lawrence Township police, provided the following details: 

Burglary – Roxboro Road

At 3:24 p.m. on Friday, a 49-year-old resident of the 100 block of Roxboro Road called police to report that his home had been burglarized sometime between 8 a.m. when he left for work and 2:50 p.m. when his son returned home from school. Stolen from the residence was about $4,700 worth of property, including a laptop computer, a Nintendo Wii console, an Xbox console, a PlayStation console, and numerous games and accessories for those video game systems.

Police suspect the burglar gained entry to the home by way of the Bilco doors leading down into the basement.

Attempted Burglary – Lawrence Road (900 block)  

At 5:44 p.m. on Friday, a 48-year-old resident of the 900 block of Lawrence Road called police to report that she had just arrived home after running a quick errand to find evidence that someone had tried to break into her home within the previous 45 minutes or so. A brick had been thrown through a window and it looked as if someone had tried to pry away the screen in the window. It was unclear if the person was scared off by something or just could not get the screen out.

In June, in the same block.

Burglary – Keefe Road (700 block)

At 3:37 p.m. on Sunday, a 54-year-old resident of the 700 block of Keefe Road notified police after returning home and finding a garage door ajar. A subsequent search of the home revealed that several bedroom drawers had been gone through. Stolen were assorted gold jewelry, a silver and turquoise bracelet and other property worth a total of about $10,000.

Police discovered that, in addition to the open garage door, the Bilco doors leading into the home’s basement were also ajar. It was unclear, however, if the burglar made entry through one door and exited out the other or only used one of the doors to both enter and leave the residence.

Burglary – Betts Avenue

The burglary at the Trenton Police Athletic League concession stand and storage building at the end of Betts Avenue has already been reported by Lawrenceville Patch, but additional details have been released by police. The crime, which was reported to police at 12:24 p.m. on Friday, is believed to have taken place sometime between Sept. 23 and that morning.

The burglar forced entry to both bathrooms in the building and then pushed out an exhaust vent to crawl into the main part of the building, which sits next to the baseball field behind the Trenton Policemen’s Benevolent Association hall. Items inside the building were disturbed but nothing was actually taken from the interior.

But an old refrigerator, three metal fence pipes, four sections of 4-foot high fence and some PVC pipes that were sitting outside next to the building were stolen, possible to be sold for scrap. The stolen items were valued at about $120, while about $200 in damage was done in the bathrooms where the burglar unsuccessfully tried to remove some copper pipes.

Stolen Vehicles – Spruce Street

Sometime between 12:30 a.m. and 2 a.m. on Saturday, a 2005 Mazda was stolen from the driveway of a home in the 800 block of Spruce Street. The vehicle’s owner, a 29-year-old man, was unaware of the theft until he got a call from police in Philadelphia reporting that his vehicle had been involved in an accident on Roosevelt Boulevard in Philadelphia’s Second Police District. The man, in turn, notified Lawrence Township police of the crime at 3:33 a.m. Saturday.

The stolen vehicle sustained significant front-end damage in the crash and lost one tire down to its rim. Philadelphia officers reportedly stopped the vehicle after spotting the damage and seeing the vehicle being driven on the bare rim. The man who was driving at the time was identified as Anjelico Hernandez, 30, of the 400 block of Liberty Street in Trenton.

Hernandez was arrested by Philadelphia police for receiving stolen property and charges related to the accident. Lawrence police, meanwhile, are working to determine if Hernandez was the person who actually stole the vehicle or whether it came into his possession sometime after it was stolen from Spruce Street.

Stolen Vehicles – Lawrence Square Village

Sometime between late Saturday evening and early Sunday morning, two vehicles – a 2011 Chevrolet Equinox and a 2004 BMW X5 – were stolen from the Lawrence Square Village development off Quakerbridge Road. The Chevrolet was taken from a parking lot on O’Neill Court, while the BMW was stolen from a lot on nearby Marsh Court. The thefts were reported to Lawrence Township police at 8 a.m. and 8:08 a.m. Sunday, respectively.

The Chevrolet was equipped with the OnStar system. Once the Equinox was reported as having been stolen, OnStar was able to use the vehicle’s built-in GPS system to alert authorities to its location.

Trenton police found the Chevrolet in a muddy, overgrown lot located behind the abandoned, boarded-up house at 615 Greenwood Ave. in the capital city. A half-dozen other vehicles were parked in the same area, including the BMW that had been stolen from Marsh Court. Neither vehicle appeared to have sustained any significant damage, however it was not immediately known if any property had been stolen from the vehciles’ interiors.

Lawrence Township police officers responded to Greenwood Avenue and processed the two vehicles for possible evidence, including dusting the exteriors and interiors of the Chevrolet and the BMW for fingerprints.

Thefts from Vehicles – Lawrence Square Village

During the same time frame that the two vehicles were stolen – Saturday night into Sunday morning – property was stolen from at least five other vehicles parking in the Lawrence Square Village development.

• At 7:28 a.m. Sunday, a 29-year-old woman reported that $10 in change, a cell phone charger, a GPS charger and a Blue Tooth device – worth a total of $120 – had been stolen from her 2010 Toyota Rav 4, which she had left unlocked overnight on O’Neill Court.
• At 8:25 a.m. Sunday, a 29-year-old woman reported that a Swiss army knife and GPS unit – worth a combined $175 – had been stolen from her 2004 Toyota Corolla, which she had left on Scherer Court with a window partially down.
• At 9:19 a.m. Sunday, a 43-year-old man reported that a GPS unit valued at $100 had been stolen from his 2003 Toyota Avalon, which he had left unlocked on Marsh Court.
• At 1:03 p.m. Sunday, a 37-year-old man reported that nearly $200 in cash had been stolen from his 2001 Toyota Sienna minivan, which he had left unlocked on Scherer Court.
• At 9:58 p.m. Sunday, a 33-year-old man reported to police that an empty computer bag had been stolen from his 1995 Subaru Legacy, which he had left unlocked on Rickard Court. The man was unaware of the theft until a neighbor – who had found the bag discarded in the parking lot – returned the bag to him.

While the precise timing of the crimes at Lawrence Square Village is unknown, it is possible they occurred when nearly all of the .

A car, driven by a woman who was allegedly drunk, flipped onto its side after knocking down two utility poles in the 1800 block of Brunswick Pike about 1:35 a.m. Sunday. With live electrical wires down in the southbound lanes of Brunswick Pike and other live power lines dangling low over the northbound lanes, multiple police officers were needed to block off both sides of the road and detour traffic for hours.

Another motorist who was allegedly intoxicated drove around a police barricade and had to be arrested. Part of Brunswick Pike remained closed until after 11 o’clock that morning so that utility crews could replace the two shattered poles. 

Other Thefts 

Three other thefts were reported during the 72-hour period of Friday through Sunday:

• At 9:14 a.m. Friday, a 26-year-old man reported that sometime between Thursday night and Friday morning his wallet – containing his debit card, driver’s license and other items – was stolen from his 1997 Ford Mustang which he had left unlocked outside a friend’s apartment in the Franklin Arms complex in the 100 block of Franklin Corner Road.
• At 4:20 p.m. Friday, a 36-year-old man reported that two bicycles belonging to his children had been stolen from the rear yard of his home in the 1700 block of Princeton Avenue sometime between 9 p.m. Thursday and 3 p.m. Friday. The stolen bicycles were described as a pink and purple Mongoose BMX bike worth $120 and an orange Tony Hawk BMX bike worth $300.
• At 5:04 p.m. Friday, a 41-year-old man from Norristown, Pa., reported that his wallet – containing credit cards and other items – had been stolen while he was inside Gold’s Gym in the 4100 block of Quakerbridge Road.

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 or so (with the dates on which they were reported) include:

• 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:

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 -