Independence Car Break-ins 2/19 night
FYI: My unlocked car was broke into last night. It looks like only change was taken from the car. My car was left a mess with papers and stuff thrown everywhere, including my GPS. The driver door was left slightly open. I reported it to Independence police and they said several other reports were coming in about the same thing. Be careful!!
lock up Happened to me last month in Hackettstown. So sad! :( . It wasn't the first time either! It is not a good feeling! SO SORRY you had to go through this too! I was told they were other incidents here in town as well. Makes me angry!
ladyskidog Where in Independence was this? This also happened in Mansfield a few months ago. All they would take was money .
OnlookerIt must make the police angry that their time is spent investigating something so easy to prevent. Someone taking change and not a GPS is just checking car doors to see which ones were make readily available to them. Push the little lock button on your key chain and you won't wake up to a mess. Seems to easy to me.
Firefly Same thing happened to us. Unlocked truck, took change and left it a mess. So sad this is happening, sign of the times.
BevBighead “Unlocked” I believe is the key word here....Don't make it that easy for them
But I am sorry your car was rummaged through
TFulp An unlocked car is not 'broken into'
Sorry this happened to you, but I think the answer is to start locking your doors. I'm not saying it will stop them, but they may see it as less of an invitation if they have to actually work for it...
Lori...since '73 
englishe30 
M and M Off of Russling Rd. closer to Mt. Bethel rd. intersection. I kick myself for having the car unlocked!!
BevBighead- Where are you located? I wonder if they were on foot or car?
Same thing happened to me last night. I generally leave my car unlocked, nothing was taken, but they went through the glove compartment and center console. I will be locking my car from now on!
Birdie All I wanted to do was notify the neighborhood of the incident so others can take precautions.
If someone enters your property without permission, locked or unlocked, it is still trepassing. If I leave my front door unlocked, it is not an invitation from someone to come in and sit and watch tv, shower, go through my stuff, and take a nap. Should I have locked my car doors? Obviously. But does that take away from the fact that someone went into my vehicle, in my driveway, while I was sleeping, and rummaged through it to see if there was anything of value. No, it doesn't. If I leave my shed unlocked, should someone go in and borrow our lawnmower without permission because they don't have to "work" at breaking in?
"It must make the police angry that their time is spent investigating something so easy to prevent"
What an obnoxious thing to say.
MB Birdie: Thank you for explaining exactly how I feel! Knowing someone was right in my driveway makes me feel very uneasy! :(
LOL as soon as I saw "unlocked" I knew this would turn into a blame the victim thread. Some of you are so predictable
darwin darwin, for me personally the issue was the term "break in". I agree that this is trespassing, but disagree about it being a "break in". I am in no way blaming the victim. I'm glad they brought this up so others can learn from it. I will say it again, lock your doors...
The definition of "break in" is to enter premises or enclosed property either forcibly or illegally. The use of any amount of force, even pushing open a door, can qualify, so long as the act is done without authorization or permission.
Tracy Sorry!....Someone trespassed on my property, entered my car, stole money and rummaged through my belongings.
Same thing happened to us a few months ago off of Free Union. I didn't think to lock our cars as we have a long driveway and the cars are parked in the back (not visible to the road) and up against the house. It is an uneasy feeling knowing somebody was on my property just under my childrens bedroom. They only took change, rummaged through papers and left CD's and GPS
In hindsight, yes I should have locked my doors (and I do now) however I had that "foolish" thinking that nobody would walk down my driveway, not be scared off by the motion lights surrounding my house and enter my cars when our bedroom windows are right there. The thing that REALLY gets me is, the garage door opener was in one of the cars. They easily could've opened the garage and enter the house if they wanted to. Obviously I learned my lesson - the house and cars are on lock down (even during daylight hours when we are home). It's a sucky way to live but sadly it's the society we live in
so what Locked doors may help, but will not prevent someone from gaining access to your property. My house was broken into and all my doors were locked. The person/persons simply broke a window. So besides the trauma of having my home invaded, I had a broken window. And I am not advocating leaving your doors unlocked, but it is no guarantee of safety. If someone wants to break in badly enough, they will. And I have a dog too. We think he was beaten or at least held at bay with my broom, because after the break-in, he would cower whenever anyone picked up a broom.
Tanya I know someone else who's car was broken into last night, and lost a laptop, camera and sunglasses. The thieves also broke one of the car doors. My garage was "illegally entered" a few months ago and someone stole my wife's purse. Seems like the area police need to get a little more active.
Sandisk Besides keeping your doors locked, an important thing to remember is keeping your car clean and free of clutter on the inside. Seriously. If there is NOTHING in there, that can be seen through the windows, a thief will probably move along to another car. Don't keep a lot of junk in your car (or valuables) because you are just inviting a thief to want to rummage around.
Eventhough we do not live in an idealistic world, isn't NOT taking/touching something that DOES NOT belong to you a virtue that we should have learned in Kindergarten? Sometimes forgetting to lock your car door(s) is an OVERSIGHT. There have been many days that I have walked into the house...hands full, with kiddos in tow, and a million things on my mind. I do NOT stop and say GEE, I think tonight is a good night to leave my car doors open. I should pack the car with my PERSONAL belongings, and wait inside to see what happens in the morning. The times it has happened to me, I have gone out to a car I could have SWORN I locked the night before. NONETHELESS, it is my PERSONAL things, in my own driveway. Maybe the people responsible for doing this should take a closer look at what THEY are doing, so the rest of the people don't have to be hyper vigilant about having to CLOSELY protect and MICRO-manage the things that they own. What is right IS RIGHT. Allow the blame to be pointed in the direction of the wrongdoer. Stop always making issues so simple, and placing blame on the one who has no malicious intentions(the person whose door was unlocked). What is right is right. Our society may become a better place if we all treated others the way we would want to be treated, OR BETTER YET, treated others the way WE TREAT OURSELVES!!!! SO SORRY for the stress of today, lock up! :(
It's 10pm, do you know where yours kids are? Obviously not.
It's sad that this happens at all. When you live in a rural area with a long driveway, you don't expect car break-its. For the culprits, the last a-holes that did this got caught, slapped with fines and lawyer fees, and jail time for one kid.
maja Leave them unlocked! At least that way they get in without breaking anything. Wont have to repair window or door lock. And dont leave anything in the car worth taking.
botheredbyu Has anyone called HHS and asked them to check for kids with clinking pockets full of change? Or maybe set up surveillance at the CoinStar?
hktownie Washington had break ins and the car doors were locked so obviously its everywhere.
Christine 
JeffersonRepub What we need is some kind of booby trap, something like.... when they open the car door they get hit in the face with a bag of stinking dog crap.
I remember awhile ago I read a story about anti-carjacking devices that were being installed in cars (rich guys cars) in the middle east... one of them was a machete that flung out from under the car and cut the carjacker's feet off!! lol
Hope no one try's to break into to anything on my property. I would feel bad for them.
Eric This makes no sense. Why are these crooks targeting rural areas? Take the Janes Chapel incident, the robberies occurred from Mt. Bethel Rd to past the firehouse- that's got to be about 2 miles for about 20 or so cars and for what?- in most cases, a few dollars in change? The risk to reward ratio is way off on this one. I would think apartment complexes are more likely a target due to the concentration of potential victims.
As for apprehending the perpetrators.... Police need to launch an immediate investigation. For example- cars were getting broken into in Alexandria and the College View section of town. It wasn't until a certain handgun was robbed from a locked glovebox that the case became more serious and they actually did something.
If I had to take a guess, I would say junkies looking for drug money and easy things to sell. Last year they had the problem in PV and it was someone that lived there and a friend. Not good
Bessie Apartment complexes have security and alot of people in and out, police close by. rural houses are farther apart and police take longer to get there. Crooks are always one step ahead of the game.
There is no way to safe guard everything from everyone. Caution, locked doors, lights etc are a safe deterrance but it will still happen no matter what we do.
They try the handle and move on if it's locked. Lock your car. It is that simple. Cops have better things to do.
Darwin, I thought the same thing...knew it would only take a few posts to start blaming OP.
Lock up, thanks for the warning, hope they catch the perps.
tripsy @ Tripsy
It’s just common sense really. We all know what world we live in now. Ya’ll see the news, does anything really surprise you anymore?
I don’t believe anyone is blaming the OP, no one deserves their stuff to be “broken into” and stolen. Just exhibit caution in your lives, don’t become an easy target.
this is a good idea (quoted from above):
"What we need is some kind of booby trap"
it is possible to hook up an electric horse fence to the car, *IF* somebody decides to try the door handle, ZAP!
might teach somebody a lesson, could be a good thing.
BrotherDog Independence Police Chief Reilly was interviewed by WRNJ this morning about the 8 break-ins the other night. He feels this is a sign of the times and the economy and recommends that whatever area you live in....be aware of your surroundings and especially any strange cars in the area or car lights outside your home at night. He stresses anyone that sees any suspicious activity or people near your home that you are not used to seeing to call the police. Independence No., is 908-852-4440.
joyful All good stuff in this post (really) - as many of you know I've lived around this country - from inner city to countryside - for some reason I've always been in the habit of locking my cars and removing most valuables though I'm not too good at removing the temptation of clutter!
Fortunately, in all of my travels my cars have never been violated. I'm usually the 'roses and sunshine' kind of person, but I'm pragmatic about a lot of things, one being that for as much as I believe the good guys are still winning, there are people out there (both good and bad) that make bad choices. I somehow have the mentality to do at least the simple things to keep myself and family safe. Fortunately, if I think I forgot to lock my doors, my remote works well enough that I can click it from inside 'just to be sure' which I do often. Do I live in fear? Not really, but for me locking the house and car are basic safety measures, sort of like looking both ways before you cross the street and buckling up, you never know if it will make the difference.
Oh and I have no delusions, I do not think it's the economy, which is improving. Based on what I've seen here, I would have to lean towards drug money. Desperate enough to check doors for easy money, not desperate enough to start breaking into houses.
A quote I heard from someone about 30 years ago - "Locks are to keep honest people honest"
trekster3 Excellent post Trekster..I was going to comment the same thing about the economy, but thought I would be flamed for not agreeing with the police. I think the reason is for drug money, plain and simple. You only need to read the papers and police blotters to see how many in our community and surrounding areas are being picked up for heroin, Oxycontin and other drugs. It's a real problem. This is of course my take on it, everyone is entitled to their own theories.
It's a sad commentary all around.
1) its not the victims fault; sure they could have locked their cars but they are home in a rural area. Access to these vehicles is not as easy as walking down the sidewalk trying doors like it would be in town.
2) the situation exists (desperation for whatever reason) that the perpetrator(s) are going into vehicles for change. Now that there is E-ZPass , you wouldn't find more than $2 in change in my vehicle....hell of a risk for $2.
summerhelp Is there a general time frame these vehicle break in's are occurring? I'm not seeing any speculation in any of the previous postings on when during the night the acts may have been committed. If at all possible try to zero in and come up with a consensus among other victims here on a certain time span...Midnight - 5AM?? 3AM -7AM?? Make every attempt to come up with a possible time frame...it will be of help to the local Authorities particularly those working the night shift in the affected surrounding areas in the days and weeks ahead in hopes of catching this/these perp(s).
TFulp, yep we know that already...just thanking the OP for the heads-up, pretty sure he/she was just trying to let us all know and be helpful, and yes some people did start telling the OP he should "lock his car", etc.
To those who suggested that we should just lock our doors I would like to say thank you for that brilliant idea (sarcasm). Sorry you wasted your time and ours with a silly post.
To those who have a problem with the terminology like "break-in", clearly you are just joking. You should state that it was a joke, otherwise you will be misunderstood and sound as if you really would like to quibble over the term.
To those who posted for the purpose of informing friends and neighbors of the events in an effort to build awareness, thank you. (no sarcasm, it's helpful to know where these events are happening)
As far as a timeframe…I believe mine happened between 3:30-4:30 am. I was awake at that time and saw the motion light go on but just assumed it was an animal. And yes….I know all about ‘assuming’ so no need to comment on that. Hindsight is always 20/20
One night 20 years ago after just moving to Independence Twp, and still unsure whether we made the right choice about this area, my wife and I attended a parent teachers conference at Great Meadows Central School. While walking through the full parking lot we noticed a dozen new soccer balls apparently left behind by a coach. Hours later walking back to our car, through a now empty parking lot, we saw the soccer balls still there, untouched! It was then that we realized this was the right place for our family.
Regardless of the recent news in the local police reports, the majority of us in this area are still good honest people and Independence Twp is a great place to live.
TU Its simple. Dont leave anything worth anything in your car and leave the doors unlocked. That way they get in without costing you money for repairs and they dont take anything because you were smart enough to take valuables out. Now, if they are stealing the cars themselves, thats a different story. Didnt see that posted.
TU - back then it was mailbox bashing..( probably still is) which is actually more expensive to correct then losing a few bucks in change in an unlocked car. It is creepy thinking someone is slinking around near your house in the middle of the night.
Do the old "V P JOE Biden Thing as showed / mentioned on TV
Buy a Shotgun ... Buy a Shotgun...
Have the ole lady stick it out the door, and empty that double barrel.
Buy a Shotgun.....Buy a Shotgun... Buy a Shotgun ....
Joe forgot to say, "Buy one at the one all time low price, and get one more...That's Two"
"Just pay the extra shipping and handling...and receive Two" Thats "Two"
VPJOE Shotguns...
What a Laugh!
embryodad This has happened 3 times this past year on townsbury rd in liberty. After the first time I got security cameras. The second time he came on the property I got him on camera. He checked the doors and moved on. He was kinda tall with black hoodie and sweat pants. Never showed his face to the cams. On the 19th he bypassed our place and went to the neighbors, maybe because we have signs now that warn of 24 hour surveillance.
Agape NOT ALL THIEVES ARE STUPID!!
A very interesting article. The electronic age has produced electronic criminals.
1. A friend of a friend left their car in the long-term parking at the airport while traveling and someone broke into the car. Using the
information on the car's registration in the glove compartment, they
drove the car to the people's home in Pebble Beach and robbed it. So I
guess if we are going to leave the car in long-term parking, we should
not leave the registration/insurance cards in it, nor your remote garage door opener.
This gives us something to think about with all our new electronic technology.
2. GPS.
A police report states that someone had their car broken into while they were at a football game. The car was parked in a designated parking lot adjacent to the football stadium and specially allotted to football fans. Things stolen from the car
included a gun, a garage door remote control and a GPS which had
been prominently mounted on the dashboard. When the victims got home,
they found that their house had been ransacked and just about
everything worth anything had been stolen. The thieves had used the
GPS to guide them to the house. They then used the garage remote
control to open the garage door and gain entry to the house. The
thieves knew the owners were at the football game, they knew what time
the game was scheduled to finish and so they knew how much time they
had to clean out the house. It would appear that they had brought a
truck to empty the house of its contents.
Something to consider if you have a GPS - don't put your home address
in it... Put a nearby address (like a store or gas station) so you can
still find your way home if you need to, but no one else would know
where you live if your GPS were stolen.
3. MOBILE PHONES
I never thought of this.......
This lady has now changed her habit of how she lists her names on her
mobile phone after her handbag was stolen. Her handbag, which
contained her cell phone, credit card, wallet, etc., was stolen. 20
minutes later when she called her hubby, from a pay phone telling him
what had happened, hubby says 'I received your text asking about our
Pin number and I've replied a little while ago.' When they rushed
down to the bank, the bank staff told them all the money was already
withdrawn. The thief had actually used the stolen cell phone to text
'hubby' in the contact list and got hold of the pin number. Within 20
minutes he had withdrawn all the money from their bank account.
Moral of the lesson:
a. Do not disclose the relationship between you and the people in
your contact list. Avoid using names like Home, Honey, Hubby,
Sweetheart, Dad, Mom, etc....
b. And very importantly, when sensitive info is being asked
through texts, CONFIRM by calling back.
c. Also, when you're being texted by friends or family to meet
them somewhere, be sure to call back to confirm that the message came
from them. If you don't reach them, be very careful about going
places to meet 'family and friends' who text you.
Wow, Firefly! You've successfully reported on a lot of urban myths propagated all over the Internet with no verifiable truth! Thanks, we're all "safer" now. If your car and home are unlocked you shouldn't be surprised if this happens. Finally, don't leave anything in the car...if it's not there it can't be stolen. Let's use our heads people and not post silly stuff.
Jakesmommie in case anyone was wondering were Firefly got her urban legends, here's one possible website.
http://www.snopes.com/crime/intent/gps.asp
Urban legend my billydoots. Here's a story about a smart guy who not only got hacked but because he linked his devices, he got super hacked. He was lucky; they were just foolin around. But, as he notes, think about what they could have done.
Moral ---- don't link the systems. don't put passwords for one system in another (like when you ask for an iPhone password to be delivered to your email ---- erase the email), and like Firefly noted ---- don't make things like home information obvious like labeling it HOME.
Or, in this guys case, once the hackers hit his email, they went to his other accounts and asked for a password reset and voilla ----- they got into everything.
For fun, follow the links to the Wired article and read it from the guy's own experience.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/askjack/2012/aug/09/hacking-internet-email-cloud-computing
mistergoogle Why the condescending sarcasm directed @ Firefly? Golden rule--it's all in the delivery... R u really contributing anything?
Although Firefly's post may include "urban legends", aren't these situations foreseeable as theoretically they will work. 'Things I never gave much thought to, but can c happening so I'm changing my cell phone listings 2! Let's face it, hackers r on1 or even many steps ahead of the law. One has 2 think that some urban legends can happen--if u can think it--someone can do it. Thanks, Firefly!!
While in college, everyone (as per admin) was ID'd by S.S.# (student I.D. & grades were posted in alphabetical order on public bulletin bds). And, everyone wrote their names & S.S.#'s on every notebk & txtbk in case they were lost & found!! 'Took 20 yrs after but I.D. theft is ramant!! And, took even longer for insurance companies to b forced 2 stop using S.S. # for policyholder I.D. FYI: Even though medical providers request S.S. #s w/ins info--DO NOT HAV 2 PROVIDE NOR policyholder's bday. The less info the btr.
Do I sound paranoid? Perhaps I s/b bec credit card app was stolen frm my apt mailbox & crdt card was opened & used agsinst my name
As 4 the Indy break-ins, SAME EXACT BREAK-INS (PATTERN/AREA--Highlands, Mt Bethel Rd, Russling) happened sev yrs bk. One 17 yr old frm area caught & his friend frm Allamuchy. Usually drug addicts who need quik $$ all the time 2 fuel horrible habit.
Sad! 'Just wish Indy police would publicize more insted of me having 2 find out online!
not 4 'nuttin The Indy police chief was on WRNJ the very next day talking about the break-ins. The report was repeated on WRNJ throughout the day. The break-ins were very public.
However, the police are only responsible to investigate and file a report. It's up to the local news paper and radio station to report or "publicize" the news. In this case, both were done.
Wow missed all the hate directed at me over here.
Gosh I changed a couple of things I have in my phone as well. Like some PINS I keep there and a alarm code ( I actually just changed how they are recorded and used a code of sorts so another person would not be able to easily figure it out.
It all sounds very plausible to me.
I guess the doubters are people that don't keep info in their phone and/or never misplaced or lost their phone. Mine info is safer now.
The info was passed along to me by a trusted and reliable source which is why I didn't check it and even if I had snopes still cites actual situations.
jakesmommie - you should read the whole thread and if you had you would see that I promote locking doors. Now maybe you could contribute something useful that has not already been said.
Just bumping this thread up. Saw this posted over on the Mt Olive forum involving another incident in Independence over the weekend:
http://www.mtolivebuzz.com/forum/511037
Vic More break-ins on Jackson Valley Rd in Mansfield.
http://www.nj.com/warrenreporter/index.ssf/2013/03/spate_of_vehicle_burglaries_re.html
Car break in happened over the weekend of 11/7 in the Highlands neighborhood. Basically looking for easy cash. Lock up and be aware.
ladeevee Maybe if you have a garage and it is not full of stuff - park your car inside. Even though I keep my garage doors closed, I always lock,the door that leads into the garage... Had a friend who had someone break a garage window and come in the unlocked door ... She was home too. Sad way to live, but that is the way it is now.
Nature Lover 
Indy5 Sorry to hear you were one of the people who were hit, Indy5. Hopefully nothing too valuable got taken.
RAS Multiple vehicle breakins reported overnight last night in Oxford. All seem to be centered in the Spring Meadow development off Pequest Road.
Sad.
Been in Independence for 50+ years.
My parents never locked the house or the cars.
....but there was no heroin issue in Hackettstown area back then....
Funny lady Just curious, has anyone heard of or been the victim of an overnight car break-in in the surrounding area since the last post on Nov 11?
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