Over $50,000 in Jewelry Stolen in Latest Burglaries

Over $50,000 worth of assorted jewelry was stolen during two residential burglaries that took place Monday evening.

Those break-ins are among a half-dozen new burglaries and attempted burglaries reported to Lawrence Township police in recent days, and are the latest in a rash of such crimes that have occurred in the township in the last month or so.

Lt. Charles Edgar, police department spokesman, provided the following details:

Cobblestone Way

At 7:28 p.m. Monday, Sept. 26, Lawrence Township police were notified that the burglar alarm system had been set off at a home on Cobblestone Way, located in a development off Province Line Road near Princeton Pike.

Responding officers found that the door leading into the house from the rear deck was ajar. The door had apparently been forced open. A search of the house and the surrounding area revealed that the burglary had already fled.

The 46-year-old homeowner returned while police were there. She went through the house with officers and discovered that several items had been disturbed in her bedroom and other rooms.

“There was clear evidence that someone had been in the house,” Edgar said.

The woman estimated that about $50,000 worth of assorted jewelry had been stolen.

Canal View Drive

At 8:38 p.m. Monday, Sept. 26, township police were called to an address on Canal View Drive by a 41-year-old woman who had just arrived home to find her front door ajar and lights on in the house.

Officers went through the house but found no one inside. The resident went around the house with officers and noted that several items were out of place and about $2,800 worth of property, including jewelry, was missing.

No obvious evidence of forced entry was found and police are still working to determine how the burglar got inside.

1700 Block of Brunswick Pike

At 4:28 p.m. Monday, Sept. 26, an 89-year-old resident of the 1700 block of Brunswick Pike (Business Route 1) called police to report that he had just discovered evidence – in the form of pry marks on his back door – that someone had tried to break into his home.

There was no indication the would-be burglar ever gained entry to the house, and the man and his family did not believe that anything was missing from the home. The man told police the attempted break-in likely occurred sometime between Sept. 19 and Monday afternoon.

The 1700 block of Brunswick Pike is just a few blocks from where a just before 4 a.m. Monday.

1700 Block of Brunswick Pike

At 11 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 23, a different resident of the 1700 block of Brunswick Pike notified police that someone had broken into his shed and stolen about $1,700 worth of property, including tools, a leaf blower, a weed whacker, and a chainsaw. The victim believed the crime took place sometime between 4 p.m. on Sept. 22 and the morning of Sept. 23.

Later that same day, just after noon, police were notified that sometime overnight someone had apparently tried to break into a soda machine at the Sunoco gas station also located in the 1700 block of Brunswick Pike. The same gas station was burglarized on Sept. 14.    

Lenox Drive

At 7:23 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 23, police were notified that someone had burglarized the in the 2000 block of Lenox Drive. The crime was believed to have taken place between 2 p.m. on Sept. 22 and 7 a.m. on Sept. 23.

The café’s cash register was found to have been pried open, but it was empty at the time so nothing was stolen there. But an iPod – valued at about $90 – that had been left on a table by an employee was missing. It was not immediately clear how the burglar gained entry to the building.

Franklin Corner Road

At 10:44 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 21, the owner of called police to the bar and liquor store in the 100 block of Franklin Corner Road in reference to an attempted burglary that took place earlier that morning.

The building’s burglar alarm was activated at about 4:15 a.m. and police immediately officers responded to the business. They arrived to find all doors and windows were secured, with no sign of any crime having been committed. Later in the day, however, the owner reviewed the video footage captured by the tavern’s security camera system.

The video showed a man wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt and jeans approach the front door of the business, look inside and then wander away. A short time later, according to the video, the man returned and tried to break the front door with an unknown object. The glass did not break – nor did it show any type of damage – but the burglary alarm system began to sound and the man scurried away.

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. 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, 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. 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 -