Montclair Police Department
Police Blotter: March 8, 2022 – March 22, 2022
Motor Vehicle Crime
March 10, 2022 (Pleasant Way): The victim reported that at some point between 5:00 PM and 8:00 AM, an unknown person(s) entered two unlocked vehicles that were in his driveway. A cellphone and a pair of ear buds were reported stolen.
March 16, 2022 (Hitchcock Place): The resident reported that her mother’s 2021 Toyota Rav 4 was stolen out of her driveway. A responding detective observed the vehicle fleeing on Thomas Boulevard and followed the vehicle before losing sight of it on South Orange Avenue and Stuyvesant Avenue in Newark.
March 17, 2022 (Greenwood Avenue): An employee of Senior Care Enterprise reported that one of their transport vans was stolen from their lot just before 7:30 AM. The vehicle is a 2016 Ford Van, color white, and was last seen east on Walnut Street.
March 17, 2022 (Bellevue Avenue): The victim reported entering her vehicle and observing all of the items within her center console had been removed. She checked her surveillance video and observed a small, crossover type vehicle, stop near her vehicle. A male subject exited and entered her vehicle. Nothing was reported missing.
March 19, 2022 (Glenridge Avenue): The victim reported that she left her 2018 Kia running along the curb while she entered a nearby store. When she returned five minutes later the vehicle was no longer there. A silver Huffy Mountain bike was left in its place.
March 20, 2022 (Bloomfield Avenue): The victim reported that he parked his 2014 BMW on Bloomfield Avenue while he picked up food. He reported the vehicle was off and he was in possession of both set of keys.
Burglary / Theft
March 8, 2022 (Park Street): The complainant reported that his bicycle was stolen from the lower level of the YMCA between 8:15 AM and 10:35 AM. The bicycle was described as a green and black mountain bike valued at $400.00. Surveillance video shows a black male between 5'8” and 6'0” tall, wearing blue jeans, a dark color sweatshirt, a black back pack, and a mask covering his face approach the bicycle. He removes a pair of bolt cutters from his bag and flees with the bike towards North Fullerton Avenue.
March 8, 2022 (Lloyd Road): The resident reported that she left her residence at 7:00 AM and returned at 5:30 PM. When she returned, she discovered a first-floor exterior door leading to a bedroom had been forced open. Multiple rooms within the residence had been entered and ransacked. Jewelry boxes from the master bedroom had been emptied. A full inventory of missing items was not available at the time of the report.
March 8, 2022 (Valley Road): An employee of a contracted oil disposal company reported a theft of cooking oil from a Valley Road business. A 175 gallon tank that had been placed empty in August had been drained empty. The oil was valued at approximately $500.00.
March 14, 2022 (Bloomfield Avenue): An employee of Fleet Feet reported that at approximately 12:30 PM a black male entered the store and started to look at various items. The suspect removed one red jacket off of a hanger on a rack, and placed it into a black gym bag he was carrying. Shortly after the suspect then took another jacket off of a hanger and place it into his bag. The suspect exited the store with the jackets after being confronted and fled east on Bloomfield Avenue. The suspect was described as a black male, 5'10'' – 6’00” tall, 35-50 years old, wearing a black 'Nets' hooded jacket, green pants, black shoes, black beanie, brown sunglasses. He was carrying a black 'Northface' backpack and a black gym bag with neon green straps.
March 15, 2022 (Bloomfield Avenue): An employee of The Connect Clothing Store reported a female and two males entered the store and stole $785.00 worth of merchandise. The female was a black female with a medium build, black hair, wearing a grey shirt and grey pants. The first male was a slim built black male wearing a baseball cap, black pants, a blue hooded sweatshirt, and white and blue sneakers. The second male was a heavy-set black male wearing black pants, an orange hooded sweatshirt, a black and orange camouflage jacket, white and black sneakers, and carrying a black plastic bag.
March 16, 2022 (Orange Road): The resident reported that she received a notification from her surveillance system of motion in her kitchen. As she checked the footage, she observed an unknown female in her kitchen. Entry appears to have been gained through a bathroom window. Proceeds were $30.00-$400.00 in cash and personal documents.
March 16, 2022 (Walnut Street): Area restaurant owners reported theft of cooking oil from their used oil tanks. Surveillance video shows two males exiting an older model Jeep Cherokee with temporary registration. The males are seen tampering with the oil tanks.
Suspicious Incident
March 21, 2022 (North Fullerton Avenue): The manager of Chase Bank reports that over the past several weeks unknown juveniles or young adults have been congregating in front of the bank and asking customers to cash checks for them. The juveniles have always run off when the manager confronts them. The manager reports receiving several complaints from customers regarding the juveniles. Specifically, that the they are aggressive in their requests and become angry when their requests to cash checks are denied. The requests are mostly made on Fridays and Saturdays. If successful, the deposited checks are mostly fraudulent.
Luring
March 18, 2022 (Heller Way): The resident reported that her twelve-year-old daughter and eight- year-old niece were playing in the front yard of the residence when a vehicle reportedly pulled up in front of the residence and asked the girls if they needed a ride. The victims ran to the back yard and notified their parents. The vehicle was described as a dark red four door vehicle last seen south on Heller Way. The driver was described as a dark skinned Hispanic or Indian male in his twenties or thirties. Anyone with information can contact Detective Daniel Heiser at (973) 509-4724.