Hillsborough Township Police Chief Mike McMahon urges residents to take proactive measures to safeguard their homes and vehicles against recent thefts.
“This includes active security systems, such as alarms, surveillance cameras, and motion-activated lighting, to deter potential burglars,” he said. “The police department is vigorously patrolling neighborhoods, but it is difficult to measure what crimes have been deterred through this process.
“As always, we rely on residents to timely report all suspicious activity whenever it is observed.”
In recent months, the township has seen an escalation throughout the state in the methods car thieves are willing to use to obtain high-end vehicles, police said.
This includes entering homes to obtain vehicle key fobs.
Two such incidents occurred in Hillsborough Township where actors allegedly entered a home on Hillsborough Road and Boehm Way for this purpose. There was also an attempt to enter a home on Hendrickson Court. This attempt was thwarted by the homeowner who activated a rear security light scaring off the would-be burglars, police said.
The Boehm Way incident occurred in early April where the actors entered the home through an unlocked window. Once inside they located the vehicle key fob and fled the scene with the vehicle. The vehicle was later located in Union. The second incident occurred on May 14, where multiple suspects smashed the rear sliding glass door to the residence. They removed several key fobs and left with two vehicles. One of the vehicles was recovered abandoned on North bound Route 78 and the second vehicle was recovered in Newark, police said.
The homes were occupied in all three cases but there was no interaction between the suspects and the occupants.
The car thieves typically operate during the early morning hours dressed in dark clothing, facemasks and use various methods to gain access to a residence. They may also pose as package or food delivery personnel in order to survey or enter one’s home. The vehicles targeted in these cases included Range Rovers, Mercedes Benz, Maserati, Audi and Porsche, police said.
The incidents remain under investigation by the Hillsborough Township Police Department. For anyone with more information, it can be reported at (908) 369-4323.
