Elevated police patrol round Gov. Murphy’s residence after tried automobile theft at neighbor’s home – NJ.com

Native police have beefed up patrols round Gov. Phil Murphy’s upscale Middletown neighborhood after there was an tried automobile theft Sunday “in shut proximity” to the governor’s non-public residence, police stated.

The tried theft close to the governor’s mansion alongside the Navesink River comes because the state has seen a double-digit increase in stolen cars final 12 months in comparison with 2020, based on the Workplace of the Legal professional Common.

Middletown is not any exception.

An individual known as police round 3:30 p.m. Sunday to report not less than two folks attempting to achieve entry to a storage the place a Vary Rover was parked inside, police stated. A neighbor intervened and the folks fled in a white BMW SUV, police stated.

“In response to a majority of these incidents, Middletown Police Division has taken very proactive measures to extend our presence in these areas,” Deputy Chief Paul Bailey stated Tuesday. “We urge the general public to make sure their automobiles are locked. Take away their key fobs and convey them into an space of a home the place the automobiles not sense these key fobs.”

Police didn’t present further particulars in regards to the precise location of the house the place the folks tried to get contained in the storage.

Information 12 New Jersey reported the story earlier Tuesday.

The State Police — which offers around-the-clock safety for the governor — didn’t reply for remark.

Murphy, in the meantime, known as the rise in automobile thefts “critical stuff” Wednesday night on Information 12 New Jersey.

“Sadly, that is throughout America proper now. Definitely, it’s throughout New Jersey,” Murphy stated on “Ask the Governor,” including, “I can’t consider these guys had been silly sufficient to return shut … given the safety on our avenue.”

The governor stated he could be “openminded … to permitting our prosecutors the latitude to pursue juveniles in the identical method that they might pursue adults” in crimes like this, citing, anecdotally, that most of the thefts have been achieved by folks below 18 years outdated who had been pushed to take action by older folks. The thought being, if caught, juveniles would get slapped on the wrist as a substitute of spending time behind bars if convicted, Murphy stated.

“We take this very, very critically,” he stated.

New Jersey Performing Legal professional Common Matt Platkin introduced ramped-up enforcement throughout the state six months in the past as New Jersey and the area grapple with a rise in automobile thefts.

Final 12 months, 14,320 automobiles had been reported stolen in New Jersey, a 22-percent enhance in comparison with 2020, which additionally noticed an increase over the earlier 12 months, based on State Police knowledge. It’s a part of a nationwide development the Nationwide Insurance coverage Crime Bureau has called “unprecedented.”

“Most automobiles now have push-to-start expertise which makes it tougher to steal the automobile, until the fob is left inside — through which case it is extremely, very straightforward to steal,” Platkin stated on the time.

Based on the New Jersey Uniform Crime Experiences, Middletown Police reported a complete of 23 automobile thefts in 2020, the final full 12 months for which knowledge is offered. There have been three arrests.

NJ Advance Media Employees Author S.P. Sullivan contributed to this report.

Our journalism wants your assist. Please subscribe at the moment to NJ.com.

Matt Arco could also be reached at [email protected]. Comply with him on Twitter at @MatthewArco.