Nutley Mayor and Police Commissioner Al Petracco and Police Chief Thomas Strumolo are warning residents to lock their cars at all times after the township experienced a rash of car break-ins between Feb. 1 and Feb. 5.
In that timeframe, 19 cars were broken into throughout Nutley. Feb. 1 was the worst day of all, with 11 suspected break-ins.
Police gave the following accounts of the incidents:
Feb 1
• The first vehicle breakin was on Evelyn Place. There, two cars were broken into and a $100 parking sensor system was taken.
• Next, on Enclosure St., two unlocked cars were entered and $20 in cash and $6 in change was missing.
• Also on Enclosure, taken from a car were several credit cards — including one each from J.C. Penney’s and Macy’s and a Visa card.
• That same day, on Oakridge Ave., $5 in spare change inside a change purse labeled “Costa Rica” were lifted.
• On Nutley Ave., meanwhile, three vehicles at one residence were broken into and taken were a silver pocket knife, $10 in quarters and some loose change. Police found a flip phone in one of the vehicles that did not belong to the victim. The phone belonged to someone else who was the victim of a car burglary earlier in the day.
• Another vehicle on Nutley Ave. was broken into and from it, loose change was taken.
• Back on Enclosure, a resident reported three vehicles were broken into. Taken were $60 in cash, a wallet with credit cards and a work ID card in it, a Garmin GPS and loose change.
• Again on Enclosure, another car was vandalized, but nothing appeared to be missing.
• Still on Enclosure, a victim told police his iPod and loose change were missing from an unlocked car.
• Enclosure really got hit hard as yet another car were vandalized, and this time, a GPS and loose change were taken.
• On Friedland Road, an older-model GPS was taken from a car.
• Yet another car on Enclosure was vandalized. Taken were a wallet with two active credit cards and $50 in quarters.
• Also on Enclosure, a $30 Dunkin Donuts gift card was lifted from a vehicle.
• Still on Enclosure, loose coins were taken from a vehicle.
Feb. 2
• A new day, more vandalized cars. The first, on Whitford Ave., was rummaged through, but nothing appeared to be missing.
Feb. 4
• While on patrol on Park Drive, police said they noticed a car with its interior lights on. When they approached the vehicle, officers noticed the car had been vandalized. Police were unable to find the vehicle’s owner — and couldn’t determine if anything was missing.
• Meanwhile, on Oakridge Ave., a resident told police his car was broken into and a wallet with $300 in cash, a debit card and a credit card, and $5 to $10 in quarters were missing.
• On Stewart Ave., a pair of Nike Air Jordan sneakers was stolen from a vehicle.
• On Church St., a GPS, prescription sunglasses and approximately $20 in quarters were taken from a vehicle.
– Kevin Canessa Jr.
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Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, an organization he has served since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on social media channels such as YouTube, Facebook, and X, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to Kearny to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.