KEARNY –
Police are hunting a brazen burglar who smashed the front window of a Belgrove Drive home, ransacked an apartment and fled with electronic equipment and a safe.
Police said the thief entered through the window of a ground-floor flat in a four-family home near the busy intersection of Belgrove and Bergen Ave. at about 7:45 p.m. Jan. 2. Although the target apartment was unoccupied at the time of the break-in, there were other residents at home, but they apparently heard nothing.
Along with the safe, a laptop computer, an iPad and a camera were stolen.
The suspect was last seen walking south on Belgrove, carrying some bags.
Police said he had apparently cut himself climbing through the shattered window, and detectives recovered DNA evidence, which has been sent to the N.J. State Police lab.
The initial responding officers, Jack Corbett and Tom Floyd, also followed a blood trail along Belgrove and found more evidence, a roll of bloody tissues the burglar had apparently used on his wounds.
Capt. Steve Durkin reported that police were able to track one of the electronic devices to an address in Newark, “but the signal has since been turned off.”
Dets. Ray Lopez and Scott Traynor are conducting the investigation, which includes reviewing footage from security cameras in the area.
– Karen Zautyk
