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Car thefts not only have skyrocketed recently throughout New Jersey the past few months -- they also occur during the day now, all because of new rules that prevent police pursuits.
What local law enforcement officers can rely on, however, are their colleagues and their citizens.
This played out in Saddle River -- an affluent suburban town off Route 17 near the New York State border -- after police there received a late-afternoon report this weekend of a suspicious white BMW in the area of Toboggan Ridge Road, Chief Jason Cosgriff said.
The vehicle turned out to be stolen from Hillside, N.J., he said.
Officer Daniel Strasser responded immediately and found the BMW stopped on High Meadow Road. Someone inside the sedan was talking with a group of brazen thieves sitting in a Range Rover that had been reported stolen out of Yonkers, N.Y., the police chief said.
Both drivers hit the gas and sped off when they saw Strasser coming, as did the driver of a Mercedes sedan that had just been stolen from a nearby home, he said.
Strasser initially tried to stop the BMW, but he was powerless to pursue it -- and the thieves knew it.
A rule enacted by the New Jersey Attorney General's Office this past December prevents pursuing drivers who haven't already presented a "clear and serious threat" before police tried to stop them. Speed or evasive driving doesn't qualify.
As it turned out, a pursuit wasn't necessary in this case.
The BMW, Mercedes and Range Rover were "recklessly fleeing the area when the Range Rover struck one of our patrol units," Cosgriff said.
Officer Grant Novak, who was driving the patrol vehicle, wasn't seriously injured, the chief said. The officer, in fact, grabbed one of the four Range Rover occupants after all four fled on foot.
The driver scrambled into the fleeing Mercedes Benz while the two other passengers bolted through area backyards.
Within minutes, Saddle River Police Sgt. Jason Nunn had immediately coordinated a multi-agency response from area police departments. Those who converged on the area included officers from Upper Saddle River, Allendale, Ramsey, Waldwick, Montvale, Woodcliff Lake, Paramus and the Bergen County Sheriff's Office, Cosgriff said.
Soon after, Saddle River Officer Dan Strasser nabbed Nafis Greene and Naeem Swift, both 22, in a backyard on Toboggan Ridge Road, the chief said.
Hayes, it turned out, was wanted on warrants out of Wood-Ridge and East Orange, records show.
Swint and the man nabbed by Novak -- identified as Jerry Hayes, 25 -- were sent to the Bergen County Jail. Both remained held there on Wednesday, four days after the arrests, under orders from a Superior Court judge in Hackensack. Greene was released pending a hearing.
All four were charged with receiving stolen property, among other counts.
Cosgriff thanked the various neighboring departments for their instant response.
"Mutual aid is our greatest force multiplier," he said. "It makes a huge difference."
The chief also praised the resident who dialed 911 after becoming suspicious. Police would rather have a shot at stopping a crime or catching thieves before they get away, he said, than end up merely taking a report after a stolen vehicle is long gone.
Cosgriff also urged owners to always lock their cars and take their fobs no matter where or for how long they park.
POSTSCRIPT: Saddle River police received a report nearly 24 hours later of someone trying to enter a vehicle in a resident's driveway after getting out of a dark-colored sedan, Cosgriff said. Responding officers found a vehicle that had been taken but abandoned on Twin Brooks Road. Its engine was still running. The dark-colored sedan was gone, the chief said. It had been reported stolen out of Newark.
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