Thieves return to Littlebrook neighborhood to steal more vehicles Monday night, take Princeton sports car from dealership
On Monday, thieves came to Clover Lane in the Littlebrook section of Princeton again to try to steal vehicles a night after a car theft and attempted car theft led to a crash that left two people dead.
Someone tried to break into the garage of a Clover Lane resident to steal a Range Rover sports utility vehicle on Monday night, residents told Planet Princeton. The vehicle was not stolen. Meanwhile, thieves successfully stole an expensive sports vehicle from Princeton that people failed to take on Sunday, residents said. After the failed attempts to steal two sports cars from a home on the 100 block of Clover Lane residents Sunday, the vehicles were both moved to two separate car dealerships.
The fact that one of the sports cars was tracked from Princeton to the dealership and then stolen leads to bigger questions about the incidents on Sunday and the possibility that the group of teens from Sunday were following orders from a gang or crime ring to steal the cars.
On Sunday, people came to the home on the 100 block of Clover Lane four times to try to steal two sports cars, each worth a couple hundred thousand dollars. The resident called police and was told by dispatch that there was no patrol car available in the area, so the resident called the mayor, who came to the residence. According to one resident, police came about 10 minutes after the first call. In a social media post, police disputed the resident’s estimate of the timing and said they arrived promptly at the scene.
A 15-year-old girl from Newark who was driving the getaway vehicle, a Jeep Grand Cherokee that was stolen from Pequannock Township, died Sunday afternoon after crashing into another vehicle head on along Route 27 in Princeton. A 61-year-old resident from Kendall Park died in the crash, and a 14-year-old boy from Newark who was a passenger in the getaway vehicle is in critical condition.
One of the members of the group successfully stole a Range Rover from Dodds Lane driveway on Sunday afternoon. Police said the investigating officer returned to his vehicle and followed behind the Range Rover on Clover Lane. According to police, the Jeep Grand Cherokee drove away in an unknown direction and the driver of the Range Rover suddenly sped up and the officer attempted to conduct a motor vehicle stop. Police said a motor vehicle pursuit ensued but was terminated on Snowden Lane due to the reckless driving of the Range Rover. Police said the Range Rover was last observed driving south on Snowden Lane, and the driver then made a left turn onto Princeton-Kingston Road (Route 27). The Range Rover was found totaled in Newark Sunday night.
At the Princeton Council meeting Monday night, a resident raised questions about how long the police chase lasted, saying a police vehicle was also seen chasing the Range Rover on Clearview Avenue and Herrontown Road.
Krystal Knapp is the founding editor of Planet Princeton. Follow her on Twitter @krystalknapp. She can be reached via email at editor AT planetprinceton.com. Send all letters to the editor and press releases to that email address.
How many cars have been stolen in Princeton in the last year?
Please keep following the story. It is somewhat unbelievable that the thieves were able to return to Little Brook the next night undeterred
Remind me again why we spend $9 million on the Princeton police. They wouldn’t have even shown up had the resident not happened to have the Mayor’s phone number. Not all of us Princeton taxpayers have this number. So what are we paying for. This is yet another example of the Princeton police doing nothing much …
How is our police department’s efficacy being measured?
How come there are ZERO comments under this incredible news – the gang coming again to same location to steal again?!! – after the mayhem they caused on Sunday. There should be 100 plus comments under this article and we should demand town hall meeting and ask what the town and police plan to do to asap. These incredible events should be picked up by mainstream media. What is going on in Princeton, with such sleepy lack of actions.
(I am sure my comment will not be posted)
I heard the police are stepping up patrols thanks to proper funding of the police. State troopers have been spotted on all the state roads surrounding town as well.
Is it true the cars they were after were 2 Bentleys and. a Jaguar?
There was more outrage about a Halloween parade being cancelled. Meanwhile the town council and mayor are deciding where to put three recreational pot shops to bring drugs and crime closer to your homes and families. The Cannabis Task Force is presenting the OPT IN to pot ordinance before the rest of the council and mayor on November 30th. Speak up at the NOVEMBER 30th meeting during your allotted three minutes.
We should allow cannabis licenses anywhere in Princeton that allows liquor licenses including across from the university where there will be a liquor store at the former Landau site. The university has not objected and spokesperson Kristin Appleget says it is a town issue. Legalizing Marijuana sales was approved by over 78% of Princeton voters and it is coming to our town. Let’s make it convenient for our residents. There is a minimum age to purchase cannabis (set by the state) and parents can educate their underage children regarding cannabis as they probably do now regarding alcohol or even smoking. The overwhelming majority of Princeton residents want to be able to have access to cannabis products whether for recreational or medical use. We should all thank the Princeton Cannabis Task Force for bringing edible and vaped drugs to town.
Sadly, people are more upset over gas leaf blowers than crime and loss of life.
Questions, questions, questions. Why has a really noisy helicopter been hovering above Littlebrook at low altitude for the past 20 minutes ? How is it that a stolen Range Rover can make its way all the way from here to Newark in broad daylight without being stopped ? How does a gang in Newark gain knowledge of an expensive sports car(s) put out for display on Clover Lane in bucolic Princeton ?
Helicopter overhead on Clover Lane . Many police cars . Friday about 12:30 a m
Cynthia
Why is Dispatch telling residents that there is nobody available in the neighborhood for a serious crime like that? What were the police doing at that time?
What happened?
If everyone locked their cars and houses and took their key fobs out of their cars, this would not happen. Thieves can apparently tell when the key fob is present in the car. This is happening in other communities as well; West Windsor’s police chief sent out something in the last couple of months asking residents to lock their cars and take the keys out because of the frequency of thefts. We as residents have a role to play in keeping us all safer as well.
Way to victim shame Eve. I guess the people who were on their driveway taking the recycling out should lock their car when going all the way to the curb. Is that what Princeton has become?
Victim shaming ?? Most of us are unware of the latest methods and gadgets making car theft much easier, for example “Signal amplification relay attack (SARA)”. If your car has keyless entry, better advice might be to keep your key fob inside a tin box AND NOT IN YOUR CAR.