Howell police seeking store, house thieves

[Maria_Lynn_Lamb]

http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080519/NEWS/80519026

Howell police seeking store, house thieves
By Ed Johnson • STAFF WRITER • May 19, 2008

HOWELL — Township detectives are tracking two different breeds of burglar: a heavy-handed smash-and-grab type and a stealthy "cat burglar.''

The smash and grab crew were definitely professionals, police Capt. Steven Dreher said. The four-man crew hit the Best Buy store at 4250 Route 9 South late Thursday night and immediately went to work, cleaning out a lot of high-priced electronics in a matter of minutes, he said.

The Best Buy thieves seemed to have a plan and they stuck to it, Dreher said.

Once they entered the store by prying its door open, video cameras taped the men as they fanned out across the store, each taking a section, Dreher said.

"They used tools to smash the glass counters and then filled five large gym bags,'' he said. "Somewhere along the way they set the alarm off, but they were gone by the time our units arrived.''

Police said they are still reviewing the store's invoices to determine how much was stolen, but they know from reviewing the video surveillance tape that it was the good stuff.

"They had probably cased the place,'' Dreher said. "They took GPS systems, digital video cameras and iPods. They seemed to know what they were looking for and where they were going as soon as they got in the store.''

Township police have sent a statewide alert to other agencies looking for any similar crimes, Dreher said.

The "cat burglar'' used an unlocked door to make a silent entry into a Vardon Way house on Friday, police said.

As the family slept upstairs, the burglar went to work on the downstairs rooms, Dreher said.

"We had a purse, credit cards, cash, a BlackBerry and a wallet taken,'' Dreher said. "From all indications the burglary took place in the early morning hours.''

Police are advising residents to make sure doors and windows are kept locked and asking anyone with information on either burglary to call the Howell police detective bureau at (732) 938-4111.
 
 
 

[James_Mazetta]

These people are lucky that's all they did the basta**s. Make sure all your doors are locked to protect your family.

[Joe Parente]

http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080519/NEWS/80519026

Howell police seeking store, house thieves
By Ed Johnson • STAFF WRITER • May 19, 2008

HOWELL — Township detectives are tracking two different breeds of burglar: a heavy-handed smash-and-grab type and a stealthy "cat burglar.''

The smash and grab crew were definitely professionals, police Capt. Steven Dreher said. The four-man crew hit the Best Buy store at 4250 Route 9 South late Thursday night and immediately went to work, cleaning out a lot of high-priced electronics in a matter of minutes, he said.

The Best Buy thieves seemed to have a plan and they stuck to it, Dreher said.

Once they entered the store by prying its door open, video cameras taped the men as they fanned out across the store, each taking a section, Dreher said.

"They used tools to smash the glass counters and then filled five large gym bags,'' he said. "Somewhere along the way they set the alarm off, but they were gone by the time our units arrived.''

Police said they are still reviewing the store's invoices to determine how much was stolen, but they know from reviewing the video surveillance tape that it was the good stuff.

"They had probably cased the place,'' Dreher said. "They took GPS systems, digital video cameras and iPods. They seemed to know what they were looking for and where they were going as soon as they got in the store.''

Township police have sent a statewide alert to other agencies looking for any similar crimes, Dreher said.
 

Just another example of the costs of these "ratables". People who tell you things like a Best Buy or athletic center are all free tax revenue aren't considering the costs like this. Note too that while the police are busy investigating these types of burglaries, they aren't available to patrol the streets to catch cat burglars sneaking into your house and stealing your wallet.

Is it any wonder that while they're building these ratables, your taxes still go up?

[Jim_Burgess]

We need global warming to sweat the truth out of them.

make it so hot they have to spend the day at the beach....

[Arlene Gaona]

Dang, I knew having Best Buy here was not the same as when Frank's Nursery inhabited the space. I guess mulch and shrubs do not have the same appeal to criminals.

[Laura_Kurtz]

Dang!  That's right across the highway from me!!!  

[Sue_Veitengruber]

Just another example of the costs of these "ratables". People who tell you things like a Best Buy or athletic center are all free tax revenue aren't considering the costs like this. Note too that while the police are busy investigating these types of burglaries, they aren't available to patrol the streets to catch cat burglars sneaking into your house and stealing your wallet.

Is it any wonder that while they're building these ratables, your taxes still go up?

Come on, Joe. The Detective Bureau investigates these types of crimes, not the Patrol Division. Patrol may have been the first to respond, just as they would if your house was broken into or any alarm or complaint from anywhere in the township, but the investigation beyond the initial response is does by the Dectective Bureau, which does not do routine street patrol.

I have lived here 32+ years, and honestly, I like not having to drive to Freehold for every houshold need, as I did when I first moved here. It is even nicer now to be be ale to secure goods and services in Howell Township as gas approaches $4.00 per gallon. Now if our population had not increased with all those new rateable homes, Howell may not have attracted retail and commercial businesses.

[Arlene Gaona]

Laura Lou,
That's my backyard  :-/

[Joe Parente]

Come on, Joe. The Detective Bureau investigates these types of crimes, not the Patrol Division. Patrol may have been the first to respond, just as they would if your house was broken into or any alarm or complaint from anywhere in the township, but the investigation beyond the initial response is does by the Dectective Bureau, which does not do routine street patrol.

I have lived here 32+ years, and honestly, I like not having to drive to Freehold for every houshold need, as I did when I first moved here. It is even nicer now to be be ale to secure goods and services in Howell Township as gas approaches $4.00 per gallon. Now if our population had not increased with all those new rateable homes, Howell may not have attracted retail and commercial businesses.

It's all money from the same pot, is it not? If the police budget is frozen and they find that they need more detectives to investigate crimes like this, wouldn't it necessitate reducing patrolmen?

So what are you saying, you'd rather be more crowded with more pollution just for the convenience of having stores a little closer? You'd pay more in taxes just for convenience? It would be interesting if you had your property tax bills from 32+ years here. We could find out what rate Howell's taxes had increased as its population increased. We'd probably find that it was such a small rate of increase and here 32 years later the population and taxes are 4 times what they were when you moved here. Is that an improvement?

By the way, if shopping was so inconvenient, why did you move here in the first place? If it was the peace and quiet that Howell had 32 years ago, was a convenient place to buy paper towels worth losing that peace and quiet?
 

[Sue_Veitengruber]

It's all money from the same pot, is it not? If the police budget is frozen and they find that they need more detectives to investigate crimes like this, wouldn't it necessitate reducing patrolmen?

So what are you saying, you'd rather be more crowded with more pollution just for the convenience of having stores a little closer? You'd pay more in taxes just for convenience? It would be interesting if you had your property tax bills from 32+ years here. We could find out what rate Howell's taxes had increased as its population increased. We'd probably find that it was such a small rate of increase and here 32 years later the population and taxes are 4 times what they were when you moved here. Is that an improvement?

By the way, if shopping was so inconvenient, why did you move here in the first place? If it was the peace and quiet that Howell had 32 years ago, was a convenient place to buy paper towels worth losing that peace and quiet?
 

You mean like letting homes like yours to be built?  You mean it's okay for Freehold to be "crowed and pollutted" with stores and for Freehold to reap the benfit of jobs and tax revenue while Howell residents have to get in their vehicles and travel 5 - 8 miles to pick up nuts and bolts or new school clothes? I never was very good at spinning yarn to make cloth to make my kids clothes or churning butter. I wouldn't even know how to begin to manufacture a nail or make paper.

Yes I have my tax bills from 32 years ago and my taxes have increases $4,600 over that time.  But back then I paid a lot less for bread, milk, and gasoline, also.

The police department is only alloted so many sworn officers. Chief Carter is quite capable of assigning his personnel as necessary. The HTPD does an extraordinary job. I wouldn't worry about them getting the job done because Best Buys opened in town. If you are worried, then perhaps you should discuss your concerns with Chief Carter. I doubt that this robbery is going to decrease Patrols.

[Joe Parente]

You mean like letting homes like yours to be built?

Well, yeah. 12 years ago I was naive about the damage that development of all kinds does. If I knew then what I know now I would have moved into an old house in a small town or village within walking distance to daily necessities.      

 You mean it's okay for Freehold to be "crowed and pollutted" with stores and for Freehold to reap the benfit of jobs and tax revenue while Howell residents have to get in their vehicles and travel 5 - 8 miles to pick up nuts and bolts or new school clothes? I never was very good at spinning yarn to make cloth to make my kids clothes or churning butter. I wouldn't even know how to begin to manufacture a nail or make paper.

Stores in Freehold don't let non-residents work for them???
I'm always amazed by these claims that such and such will bring jobs to the town, when what it really does is bring workers from other towns in. There's no law stating that the Best Buy or the MAC has to employ Howell residents (nor can there be). The ratable brings employees from out of town as well as customers, so the town gets the increased costs of road repair and police activity with little real net tax revenue. This is the point I'm trying to make. Everybody focuses on the revenue from these things and never on the costs, yet the costs are real and ongoing.

I have posted many times that several studies have shown that "ratables" don't pay for themselves, yet I've never seen anyone present a study that says they do, it's just taken on faith.

And let's get serious here. You could buy nails at Farmingdale Hardware or stationary at Shop 'n' Bag, it's not as if Howell was devoid of shopping for basics, I'm sure. The stores on the south west corner of Aldrich and 9 sure look older than 32 years to me.

And I'm sure Pine View Grocery had all the necessities at one time.  

It again begs the question of why you moved here if everything was so inconvenient.
 

Yes I have my tax bills from 32 years ago and my taxes have increases $4,600 over that time.  But back then I paid a lot less for bread, milk, and gasoline, also.

The police department is only alloted so many sworn officers. Chief Carter is quite capable of assigning his personnel as necessary. The HTPD does an extraordinary job. I wouldn't worry about them getting the job done because Best Buys opened in town. If you are worried, then perhaps you should discuss your concerns with Chief Carter. I doubt that this robbery is going to decrease Patrols.

As professional and dedicated as the Howell Police and Chief Carter are, they can still be overwhelmed with duties and spread too thin. A wooded lot or empty store doesn't get robbed and call the police, drive on the roads or send kids to school. Whatever taxes those "uses' pay are almost 100% net revenue. The same can't be said for Home Depot or Best Buy.

[Laura_Kurtz]

OH Arlene!  That is even worse!!!     Stay safe!  

[Sue_Veitengruber]

Stores in Freehold don't let non-residents work for them???

No one ever said that, Joe. However, there are a lot of Howell residents who now have th opportunity to work in the town they live in as a result of the office complexes, retail  and commercial centers that have been built over the last 32 years. As a result they do not have to spend as much to commute to work, and there are far more opportunities for seasonal and part time work for students.

And let's get serious here. You could buy nails at Farmingdale Hardware or stationary at Shop 'n' Bag, it's not as if Howell was devoid of shopping for basics, I'm sure. The stores on the south west corner of Aldrich and 9 sure look older than 32 years to me.

And I'm sure Pine View Grocery had all the necessities at one time.  

Well for the record Pine View was closed even when I moved here. There was one supermarket in Howell, the A & P at Aldrich Road until the Foodtown opened up across the street and neither carried the variety of goods that today's supermarkets do. (It was before bar coding, in fact.)

And for the record Farmingdale Hardware and Shop n' Bag are in FARMINGDALE!!!!! Not HOWELL!!!! Loew's and Stop and Shop, as well as Pathmark are closer to my house and a large portion of Howell's residents.  

It again begs the question of why you moved here if everything was so inconvenient.
 

Who said living here was inconvenient? YOU! Don't twist my words, Joe. I think the overwhlming majority of residents agree that Howell should strive to keep the interior of Howell green, and would be very happy if no more residential development occured. However, we do have two major highways that offer the opportunity for reasonable commercial and retail development, not the East Brunswick fill-every-blade-of-grass-on-Route 18-with-asphalt variety. There is an environmental advantage, as well as a cost savings, to not having to drive 10 miles to stores.

Howell has suffered from the "Lock the Door on Route 9" syndrome as long as I have lived here, and probably long before that. I am sure you don't have to worry about too much business or commercial development, Joe, since Howell has a solid reputation of being extremely business unfriendly.

[Cheech_Panzera]

When I read about this in the newspaper I could not believe it. Best Buy (ELECTRONICS) being broken into and robbed like that. Shouldn't a place like that have the best security system available? I think outfits like this (and Banks) should be forced to hire security guards (ARMED). This is some 'Ratable'. I feel sorry for the residents living in their backyard.

[Connie_Schmidt_Kir]

It absolutely floors me that the conversation ran the way it did.  LIGHTEN UP!  I have lived here a long time too, won't tell you how long because in my mind I am not even that old.  But it is what it is, there are perks and some parts that suck.

At the end of the day at least no one was hurt.  There are low lives in every town, hopefully they are just passing through.