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The husband, 41, opened the passenger side door of the 2020 Audi SQ5, but the thief kept backing down the driveway around 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 8, Glen Rock Police Chief Dean Ackermann said.
He fortunately let go of the handle before the door smashed the side of the Van Allen Road home, the chief said.
The tall, thin bandit, who was wearing gloves, abandoned the now-damaged SUV and got into a waiting 2021 BMW 540 sedan just up the street, he said.
That vehicle, it turns out, had been reported stolen out of Rockville Center, Long Island about an hour and a half earlier and was tracked to Newark shortly before the Glen Rock incident, Ackermann said.
Ackermann's detectives recovered home surveillance video from the neighborhood and were investigating, assisted by the Bergen County Sheriff's Bureau of Criminal Identification, which also collected evidence.
With thieves prowling North Jersey streets in unprecedented numbers, authorities say it's more important than ever to always lock your vehicle -- no matter where you park or for how long -- and take the key fobs with you.
Police won't be able to chase them under rules enacted by state authorities this past December. And they prefer citizens not try to take the law into their own hands.
CRIME WAVE: Unprecedented Epidemic Of Vehicle Thefts, Burglaries Grows Alarming In North Jersey
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