A burglar hit Midland Ave. in Montclair Thursday night and, Goldilocks-like, picked three separate victims. In the first house, apparently entered by a rear window, the burglar must have found nothing worth taking; no items were reported missing. In the second house, entered by a back door, the burglar took one laptop, two wallets, two Blackberries and one lesser cellphone. But the third house, that one was best of all: the burglary, who entered through an unlocked front door, walked away with two Apple laptops and an iPod.
A similar crime rash took place over the weekend on Vincent Place in Montclair, where three unlocked cars were broken into. From the first car, the thief got a pair of yellow Maui Jim sunglasses. From the second, the thief took two pairs of $200 sunglasses. And from the third, the thief got a cellphone and an MP3 player.
Moral of the story? Dear reader, we leave that up to you.
Comments (18)
Lock your doors or move to Montana.
The moral of this ... Its that time of year again. Just like clock work, the local criminals have woken from their stupor and realized its crime wave time. So, lock your doors, close your windows, leave nothing in view in your cars, Oh yeah, lock your cars. I dare say if I am at home and an intruder shows up I will shoot first. I sleep lightly, just ask my girlfriend.
Let's be honest here: There is a rash of stOOpid, dumb folks who think the live in Mayberry.
Why even close the door, just leave it wide open with a neon FREE STUFF sign.
I have no sympathy for folks who leave their doors open.
Montana? You sure about that?
Yea, Montana? Are you sure about that?
Instead of fining people whose burglar alarms go off on accident ? lets fine the idiots who leave their doors open. Let?s make them pay for the time and effort of the police ? as well as make them pay a few bucks toward teaching criminals that our neighborhoods make good targets! If you get 3 of said fines ? you are then forced to wear a Village Idiot sign for 1 week. If it helps the Montclair sign committee the sign could say Welcome to Montclair Village ? I am an official idiot!
Maybe the police will get lucky.
Sorry, but Montclair does not have a monopoly on stupidity. I was just over in Glen Ridge, and someone was dumb enough to leave a beautiful green flowerpot sitting on a table in front of their house. How could I resist?
How could people who deem themselves so intelligent often leave their home and car doors unlocked? They get what they asked for.
It is glorious to believe in freedom, common good, all trusting each other. However, I don't see this ethos in Montclair.
Lock up, hipsters!
My husband went to the local pharmacy yesterday and discovered a driverless Porsche idling nearby -- another case of "I'll only be a minute, why turn my car off and lock it?"
A Beck song comes to mind on this one....
I must confess, I'm one of the dumb ones, or I used to be. I left my car unlocked in my driveway at home one night and got robbed. The policeman told me that this happens regularly in Montclair (this was 2002, and since then they've been much, much better at alerting people), and that I should always keep the car and house locked at all times. Lesson learned.
My husband did the same thing in 2000. I was on my way to the funeral of one of my close friends in Boston. It was winter and he was warming up the car for me. He was close by and kept checking the car from the window. We had (and have) big dogs (friendly usually, but loud. They bark when anyone walks by the house. Not sure what happened that day though) and they
didn't even bark. When I opened the door, the car was gone. I was supposed to pick up another friend in Westchester. I called her so she could find her way without me (as we'd leave from different airports now). Every time either one of us have told this story someone then tells us a similar experience of a friend, or family member (and a couple of folks have admitted the same thing happened to them). We learned our lesson too.
I for one don't think someone is stupid because another person lacks discipline in The Golden Rule. Blaming a victim of a crime is senseless. It's summer, yes. But that's no reason to go through life in lockdown.
Having a locked door does not necessarily prevent a break-in, but a closed unlocked door doesn't invite them in either. Cut the poor folks a break, and thanks for giving us a heads up.
Yeah, what is with this mentality that some of you people have? People are "asking" to be robbed? They "deserve" to be robbed? It's like you're TRYING to make burglarizing people's homes seem more acceptable.
Montana? Gonna be a dental floss tycoon!
Just like the girls in the short skirts, small tops or with the word "juicy" across their asses are asking for a spot of molestation I guess. So when it happens, don't get upset, you should have changed their wardrobe. Don't blame the pervert.
And if your pants hang somewhere south of your butt, you are asking for police suspicion, so don't go complaining when you get that either.
See, I got it.
But blaming the victim happens all the time - thus my mention of the fines people get when their alarms go off by accident. People aren't leaving their doors unlocked by accident. Just this week one was left open for the dog to go in and out - ummm there is a thing called a doggie door, invest in your pet or have crap on your floors. I've gone thru this with my own family - the emergency keys hidden in the yard, leaving side doors unlocked, etc. are all stupid - more so when we have so much information regarding the crime that happens in our area.
The Maui Jims where mine, sorry folks BLAMING THE VICTIM IS STUPID. A couple years back I received an police award,assisting offficers in the apprension of 2 burglary suspects. I am hoping to find my much needed for vision purposes my glasses.My finances are tight to replace the 6 year old glases and fix my car doors so the lock right.