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“I got the kids and [everything] I’m grabbing out [of] the car,” she explained. “[S]ometimes life is busy… sometimes I forget too.”
The burglar was recorded on surveillance cameras in Fair Lawn testing door handles between 1 and 4 a.m. over the weekend and into early Monday, police said.
He was successful in some instances -- and made off with valuables he found inside open vehicles -- and kept moving past those that were locked.
Reports have come from Henderson Boulevard, Cedar Street and High Street and areas near them.
It’s happening everywhere: Bandits prowl North Jersey neighborhoods overnight, when most vehicle owners are sleeping, and test door handles. If a vehicle is locked, they keep moving. If not, they get to work.
Police patrol streets, both in marked and undercover units, but they can’t be everywhere at once -- making some owners' claims that they should prevent such crimes sound naive, at best.
Counting on insurance to cover a loss doesn't take into account how that may affect rates, especially when the carrier discovers the fob was left in an unlocked vehicle.
Equally mistaken is the idea that burglars will try to break into locked cars, anyway. Nothing could be further from the truth, police say.
As the Fair Lawn videos show, car burglars and thieves today simply shop, going from vehicle to vehicle, testing door handles.
They ordinarily don’t need to work more than a single block, either. THAT many people leave their vehicles unlocked.
Easy marks are everywhere, police say -- living in a particular town doesn’t better-protect you than another. The thieves actually prefer nicer neighborhoods where there are trees, fences and other dividers between homes.
They also like that there are fewer people out and around the better neighborhoods overnight and that more higher-end vehicles (with pricier contents) are available.
Home surveillance cameras may deter some thieves, but – as the Fair Lawn videos show -- they’re not a guarantee.
Some thieves obscure their faces or rely on the fact that many cameras don’t have high-enough resolution to capture accurate facial features at a distance, especially in low light.
Police have grown increasingly frustrated with both the burglaries and outright vehicle thefts, some of which lead to pursuits.
They praise those owners who have the good sense to lock their cars, SUV, trucks and other means of transportation without leaving the fobs inside. As for some of the victims -- well, they'd rather not say.
Anyone who sees or recognizes the man in the videos is asked to contact Fair Lawn PD: (201) 796-1400.
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