Another Luxury Car Theft in Fair Haven: Police Advise Residents to 'Lock Up'

By Elaine Van Develde

It happened again. The Rumson-Fair Haven area was hit with another luxury car theft — this time in Fair Haven.

A 2013 Mercedes C300 Class 4 was reported stolen from from a Battin Road driveway on Aug. 16 at 8:17 a.m. "We believe it was taken sometime on the 15th, though," Fair Haven Police Detective Stephen Schneider said. "The vehicle was unlocked and the key fob was left inside. It was driven off the property from the driveway."


Before this incident, Rumson police reported that there were two similar car thefts there at the end of July — a BMW and Infinity taken from property on Wardell and Post roads, keys left in both unlocked vehicles.

It's been a problem in the Rumson-Fair Haven area and beyond dating back a couple of years now — unlocked luxury cars, with keys or fobs left in the car, being stolen right out of the owners' driveways.

A similar incident also occurred in Rumson in February of 2012, Rumson Police Detective Chris Isherwood had said. In Fair Haven, prior to the latest incident, a Land Rover and brand new Mercedes, with keys left in the unlocked cars, were taken from a Fair Haven Road driveway in September of 2011 and eventually recovered in Elizabeth by police there.

Area police say they have reason to believe that these high end car thefts, which have been prevalent all over Monmouth County and the state, are connected.

"We strongly believe this incident is connected (to a larger car theft ring)," Isherwood had said in a previous interview.

Schneider agreed. "This is definitely a county- and statewide problem," he said, adding that he could not speak further to that, as the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office handles that level of crime.

And, as Rumson police have done, Fair Haven police, Schneider said, have issued alerts to residents to keep their vehicles locked and keys secured inside locked homes via Twitter, Facebook and the borough's website.

"People are making it easy for criminals to make a quick buck," Schneider said. "This is a great area and it's nice to trust people; but, residents have to realize that criminals are aware of the fact that this is also an affluent area and, unfortunately, they come into town looking to make money quickly and easily. We're trying to educate residents and hope they take our advice."

That advice, Schneider said, is:

• Keep car and home doors locked and keys and fobs secured;
• Invest in motion censored lights;
• Do not leave valuables or wallets in cars, locked or unlocked, as that presents potential identity theft problems in addition to theft;
• Call police immediately to report anything suspicious;
• Do not wait until the next day to make the call.

"Residents and neighbors are our eyes and ears," Schneider said. "As much as we'd like to be, we can't be everywhere. And, if something is reported right away the likelihood of catching perpetrators is higher."

There was an incident of auto theft on Poplar Avenue in the beginning of the year that was related to a burglary, fitting a different profile, Schneider said. But, the same warnings are in order.

In this case, he said, there was a house burglary. The front door was locked and kicked in and only the bedroom was ransacked. "They realized that there were two cars in a secure garage," Schneider said. "So, they found the keys, which had not been secured, and took one of the cars (not a luxury car) as a getaway vehicle. No one has been apprehended yet, but the stolen car was recovered in Red Bank."

The lesson, Schneider reiterated, is to report anything unusual around your house or a neighbor's and secure your property.