Police Blotter: Vehicle Burglaries, Cell Phone Theft, Fraud

The following information was supplied by the Collingswood Police Department. An arrest does not indicate a conviction.

Vehicle Burglaries
The warmer weather created an atmosphere ripe for automobile break-ins as unknown perpetrators recently violated several vehicles in town over a period of a few days.

The first incident occurred between 1:30 am and 9:00 am March 31, when a resident of Bellevue Terrace parked his 2004 silver Honda Civic overnight in the Sagami restaurant lot. The driver side window of the vehicle was smashed in, and thieves made off with change, CDs, and clothing.

In the same span of time, a resident of the 600 block of Everett Avenue lost a laptop and Apple iPad from his vehicle, which was parked but left unsecured in the driveway of his residence.

Later April 1, a resident of the 300 block of Lakeview Terrace lost an Apple iPhone when he failed to secure his vehicle, which was parked overnight on the street.

Finally, a resident of the 200 block of Woodlawn Terrace awoke on the morning of April 5 to discover that his black Infiniti had been burgled overnight. The perpetrator had attempted unsuccessfully to open the vehicle using the driver door key, but eventually gained entry via the open sunroof. A SIRIUS satellite radio was taken from the vehicle; items from the glove compartment were left on the passenger seat, and the passenger door was slightly ajar.

Theft
Between 10 pm April 3 and 7 am April 4, a resident of the Heights of Collingswood realized that he had left his cell phone in the gym at the complex while he was exercising there. He returned to find that the phone was gone. Collingswood detectives reviewed footage of the gym surveillance cameras, and observed a juvenile resident of the Heights of Collingswood removing the phone from the gym.

Police visited the suspect’s residence, where he claimed that he had intended to turn in the device to facilities management. Police verbally reprimanded the juvenile and returned the phone to its owner.

No such luck for an April 2 victim of cell phone theft at the Mr. Suds Laundromat in the 600 block of Collings Avenue, who noticed her phone had been stolen after she did her laundry. Police reviewed video tape from the site, but the matter is still under investigation.

Fraud
On April 3, an elderly Collingswood resident reported to police that she believes she has been the victim of a telephone scam. The victim, 85, received calls advising her that she had won a contest and would need to send money to its administrators to claim her prize. The victim then wired a substantial amount of money to an unknown person outside of the United States, possibly Panama, and never received anything.