Police Blotter: Cops Look for Link Between Attempted Burglary, Property Theft That Happened Blocks Apart

Attempted Burglary & Theft

Lawrence Township police are investigation if there is any connection between an attempted burglary and a property theft that took place just blocks apart during the evening of Wednesday, May 11, according to Lt. Charles Edgar, spokesman for the township police department.

He said it was 9:52 p.m. when a 66-year-old resident of Yorkshire Village Road, in the development behind Mercer Mall, called police to report that she had been home watching TV when she heard a noise at her front door. She went to the door, turned on her front porch light and looked outside to see two young men running away from her house. She then noticed damage to her front door, suggesting to her that the men had been trying to break into her home, he said.

The woman described both men as black, about 18 to 20 years old, and 5 feet 10 inches to 6 feet tall. One was wearing a blue and white cap.

Later that same night, about 12:15 a.m. on May 12, police received a call from a resident of nearby Canal View Drive. That resident, a 41-year-old woman, reported that her purse and laptop computer had been stolen from the front porch of her home sometime between 8:30 and 8:45 p.m., Edgar said.

He said the woman told police she had just arrived home and was in the process of carrying the purse and laptop inside when she became distracted by having to unlock her front door and answer a phone that was ringing in the house at the time. She left the items on her porch. When she returned to collect them, they were gone, he said. She looked around for the items on her own before finally deciding to call police to report the theft.

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Motor Vehicle Theft

Officials at Enterprise Rent-A-Car in the 3200 block of Brunswick Pike (Route 1) called Lawrence Township police at 3:12 p.m. on Tuesday, May 10, to report that a 2011 Kia Rio that been stolen, Edgar said.

Officer Hector Nieves responded and learned that the vehicle had been rented by a woman on April 15 but never returned to the rental agency, Edgar said. He said Lawrence police eventually located the woman, who explained that the vehicle had been stolen from the parking lot of a motel in Bensalem, Pa., on May 2. The woman claimed she notified local police there about the crime, but the rental agency was apparently never informed, he said.

Edgar said the stolen vehicle was found abandoned at another motel in Bensalem on May 14. The circumstances of the theft remain under investigation by Bensalem police.

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Criminal Mischief

A 57-year-old man called police at 8:52 a.m. on Tuesday, May 10, after finding the glass shattered in the storm door at the front of his home in the 200 block of Eldridge Avenue, Edgar said, noting that the damage was estimated at $200.

No evidence was found to suggest anyone tried to break into the home, Edgar said. Officer Robert Loveless is investigating.

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Fraud

Police were contacted at 11:12 a.m. on Tuesday, May 10, by a 60-year-old resident of Pembroke Court who had just learned from his bank that someone had made an unsuccessful attempt to electronically transfer $7,000 from his account, Edgar said. Officer James Vardanega was assigned the investigation.

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Criminal Mischief

A 45-year-old man from Princeton Borough called police at 12:39 p.m. on Tuesday, May 10, to report that someone had used an object – possibly a rock or a brick – to damage the roof, driver’s side window and driver’s side quarter panel of a rental car that he had parked in the lot outside the food court of Quaker Bridge Mall in the 3300 block of Brunswick Pike (Route 1), Edgar said.

The 2010 Pontiac is owned by Enterprise Rent-A-Car, he said, noting that damage was in excess of $500. Officer Robert Wagner is investigating.

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Fraud

Sgt. Joseph Amodio was assigned at 2:22 p.m. on Tuesday, May 10, to investigate a crime involving the fraudulent use of a credit card. The card, belonging to a woman in Florida, was used to make $500 worth of fraudulent purchases at the Foot Locker and Perfumania stores at Quaker Bridge Mall on April 6, Edgar said. He said the card was also used to make another fraudulent purchase at a business in West Windsor Township.

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Shoplifting

The theft of a $650 cellular phone is under investigation by Officer Marc Caponi. The crime took place about 5 p.m. on Tuesday, May 10, at the Talk Wireless kiosk inside Quaker Bridge Mall. Employees told police that a 19-year-old woman from Trenton visited the kiosk to inquire about upgrading her cellular service. She was handed the phone to look it over, but became irate and allegedly said she “was being taken advantaged of” when she was told the price of the phone, Edgar said.

The woman, employees alleged, stormed off with both her old phone and the $650 phone she had been looking at. When police caught up with the woman in the parking lot, she did not have the missing phone on her, Edgar said. He said the woman told police that she not stolen the $650 phone but instead had thrown it down at the kiosk before she left.

Edgar said the investigation is continuing.

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Shoplifting

A 15-year-old girl from Lawrence Township was arrested about 7:40 p.m. on Tuesday, May 10, after she allegedly stole two skirts valued at a total of $59 from the Delia’s store at Quaker Bridge Mall, Edgar said.

While inside a fitting room in the store, the girl allegedly cut off a security tag from one of the skirts and then concealed both items in a shopping bag she was carrying, Edgar said. The girl was later located inside another store in the mall, at which time she was arrested by Sgt. Joseph Amodio and charged with shoplifting, he said.

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Theft

Officer James Vandanega was sent to the Poyda residence hall on Rider University’s campus in the 2000 block of Lawrence Road (Route 206) at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, May 11, to investigate after a 33-year-old man called police to report that someone had fraudulently used his credit card account to pay for a room at a Westin hotel in Maryland, Edgar said.

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Shoplifting

Officer Richard Laird III is working to identify a woman who stole about $115 worth of soap and allergy tablets from the CVS Pharmacy in the 1900 block of Brunswick Pike (Business Route 1) shortly before 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 11.

Edgar said a pharmacy employee followed the woman after the store’s theft alarm sounded when the woman walked out the front door. Ignoring the employee’s requests to stop, the woman got into a car and drove away. But as the woman got into the car, the employee got a look in her purse and allegedly saw bars of soap and some CVS-brand allergy tablets she had stolen, he said.

The woman was described as black, with an unknown style tattoo on her chest, wearing a white shirt and purple pants. Her vehicle was a four-door black Dodge Neon.    

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Drug Investigation

At 2:43 p.m. on Wednesday, May 11, administrators at Lawrence High School called police to report that a bag of suspected marijuana had been found on the floor in a hallway in the school at 2525 Princeton Pike, Edgar said. Upon closer examination, however, the material in the bag was found to be a cooking spice, he said, noting that it had purposely been packaged to resemble marijuana. Officer Chris Schuster is investigating.  

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Theft

A 40-year-old resident of Coach Drive called police at 2:59 p.m. on Wednesday, May 11, to complain that in December he had paid a contractor $2,500 to refinish the stairs and some of the hardwood floors in his home and that the contractor had yet to complete the work, Edgar said. He said Officer Robert Wagner advised the victim how to file a complaint against the 58-year-old contractor.

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Criminal Mischief

Officer Thomas Chianese is investigating who moved two dump trucks that had been left at a work site in the 4100 block of Quakerbridge Road. Workers contacted police at 3:55 p.m. on Wednesday, May 11, to report that someone without authorization had moved the trucks from one side of the property to the other and that minor damage had been done to the rear gate of one of the trucks, Edgar said.

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Fraud

A 68-year-old resident of the 100 block of Forrest Ridge Road called police at 5:20 p.m. on Wednesday, May 11, to report that she had just learned that someone, possibly in California, had used her credit card account information to make two unauthorized online purchases totaling about $500, Edgar said. Officer Chris Schuster was assigned the investigation.

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Criminal Mischief

Officer Thomas Chianese is investigating who slashed the driver’s side front tire of a 1997 Mercury while it was parked outside a residence on Harris Court, Edgar said. He said the vehicle’s owner, a 58-year-old male, reported the crime at 6:56 p.m. on Wednesday, May 11. Damage was estimated at about $200.

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

 A copy of Lawrence Township's police dispatch log for Tuesday, May 10, through Wednesday, May 11, 2011, can be viewed from the PDF box above. This log lists all significant calls for service and incidents for which officers filed a written report. Routine administrative assignments are omitted. Some data has been redacted to protect the identity of crime victims.