A woman left her 2019 Range Rover running on Glenridge Avenue on November 5 and came back to find a man climbing into the driver’s seat. He drove off east, and the car ended up in Newark after Orange and East Orange police chased it. The theft leads this week’s Montclair police blotter, which covers November 3 through November 10. It also includes two people checking doors on Christopher Street in the middle of the night, a Ford van stolen from South Mountain Avenue that turned up in Maryland and a tip jar emptied at La Fontaine on North Willow Street.
Range Rover stolen on Glenridge Avenue, recovered in Newark
The owner told police she saw the man approach her car as she was walking back to it. He wore a black hooded sweatshirt. He got behind the wheel and headed east on Glenridge Avenue, where Montclair patrol officers saw the Range Rover speeding away.
Orange and East Orange police chased the car until they called off the pursuit in Newark. It was found later that night, empty, on North Fifth Street in Newark.
Two people check doors on Christopher Street, one carrying what looked like a crowbar
A Christopher Street resident told police that sometime between 2:25 a.m. and 2:45 a.m. on November 7, two people came onto his property. They tried several doors of his home and looked into his cars, a 2022 BMW and a 2025 Range Rover.
Surveillance video shows one of them walking north up the driveway along the bushes and onto the stairs at the side of the house, holding what appeared to be a crowbar in his right hand. Police describe him as wearing a black face mask, a black sweater, gray and black jeans, black sneakers and gray gloves. The blotter does not describe the second person or say whether anything was taken.
Ford van stolen from South Mountain Avenue turns up in Maryland
A South Mountain Avenue man reported on November 4 that his 2012 Ford Econoline van had been stolen from his property. After police entered it into a national database of stolen vehicles, the van was found in Anne Arundel County, Md., and a 54-year-old Teaneck man was arrested. The blotter does not say what he was charged with or which agency made the arrest.
Montclair theft reports: a tip jar at La Fontaine and a missing stroller
A man walked into La Fontaine on North Willow Street around 1 p.m. on November 3 and ordered a tea. While the employee made it, he reached into the tip jar several times and took cash. Then he paid for the tea, in cash, without leaving a name for the order. Police describe him as in his 50s, with short gray hair, wearing a gray hooded jacket.
On Wheeler Street, a woman told police on November 8 that a stroller and car seat combination she ordered from Amazon never made it inside. She got a notification on November 2 saying it had been delivered, but when she came home it wasn’t there.
