Two Montclair cars were reported stolen on October 12, and in both cases the owners told police they had left the keys inside and the doors unlocked. A police officer spotted one of them running a red light before its owner reported it missing. This week’s Montclair police blotter, which covers October 6 through October 13, also includes two masked people caught on home security cameras on Christopher Street, a knife dispute near the Salvation Army and an “armed robbery in progress” call on Bloomfield Avenue that turned out to be something else.
Two cars stolen in Montclair with the keys left inside
A Lincoln Street resident parked his 2012 Jeep Cherokee in his driveway at about 9:40 p.m. and found it gone the next morning. He told police he had left the key fob inside and the car unlocked. At about 4 a.m., an officer saw the Jeep go through the red light at Pine Street and Glenridge Avenue and tried to pull it over. The driver fled east on Bloomfield Avenue into Glen Ridge. The Jeep had not yet been reported stolen at the time, and the officer ended the pursuit.
Also on October 12, a Walnut Street resident left her 2026 Hyundai on the street between 2 and 4 p.m. She told police the car was unlocked with the keys inside. Surveillance footage shows three people walking east on Walnut Street, stopping at the passenger side of the car, getting in and driving east.
The thefts follow a similar case in last week’s blotter, when a Kia Sportage was stolen from in front of the Montclair Public Library and the owner believed a spare key was in the glove box.
Two masked people caught on camera outside a Christopher Street home
A Christopher Street resident’s doorbell camera sent a motion alert to her phone at 3:46 a.m. on October 12. The footage showed a person in a mask standing at her front door. A second alert, from her driveway camera, showed a second person, also masked, near her two luxury vehicles. The vehicles and the home were locked, and both people left the area. The blotter does not mention damage.
Cash register incidents at Playa Bowls and Caribbean Grill
A man walked into Playa Bowls on South Park Street on October 10 with a coffee and asked for sugar. An employee went to the back room to get it, and when she returned, he had opened the register and was taking money. He left walking north toward Bloomfield Avenue with $112. Police apprehended a suspect on October 12. The blotter does not say who was apprehended or what charges the person faces.
On October 12, officers went to 343 Bloomfield Avenue, the Caribbean Grill, at about 1:15 p.m. on a report of an “armed robbery in progress.” They arrived within moments and arrested the suspect immediately. They found no armed robbery. Police say the man was unarmed and had walked into the restaurant, gone behind the counter and opened the register. Employees and an unidentified patron stopped him as he took money from the register. Police charged the suspect, a 47-year-old East Orange man, with burglary.
Man charged with aggravated assault after knife dispute on Trinity Place
On October 6, patrol officers went to the Salvation Army on Trinity Place on a report of a dispute between two men. The caller said one man was chasing the other with a large knife. Officers found both men, each intoxicated, and one was carrying a 10-inch knife with a serrated blade. Police charged that man, a 65-year-old Montclair resident, with aggravated assault, unlawful possession of a weapon and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. The blotter does not say whether anyone was injured.
For a bigger-picture look at how these incidents compare with crime across town, read How Safe is Montclair…Actually? Catch up on earlier weeks, including the Sept. 22–29 blotter.
