Wave Of Burglaries In Montclair

Three homes and two auto body shops have been broken into over the last week and, in the most recent case, a resident woke up Monday night to find two teenagers in his home, Montclair Police reported Tuesday.

Indeed the sound of footsteps outside the bedroom woke up a man living on North Fullerton Avenue just before midnight Monday night. The man saw that two people were in his house with flashlights. He watched as they ran towards the front door and struggled to get the screen open. One of them then dove through the bottom window screen to escape while the other got out through a kitchen window, police said.

Officers searched the area and, following a brief chase, found and arrested Tahje Glover, 18, of Newark, as well as a 17-year-old juvenile, for burglary.

In another incident, this one on Thursday, a Locust Drive resident told police that he and his wife had returned home at about 11:30 p.m. following a night out. His wife placed her purse on the kitchen counter and went into her office while he went upstairs. The side door to the kitchen was left unlocked. A few moments later, they heard the door slam. An intruder had gotten inside and taken the purse, police said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Detective Bureau.      

The day before, a Washington Street resident also reported a burglary after finding his basement door slightly open. As he looked around, he discovered his mail tossed about and also that a 37-inch Samsung TV and a Playstation 3 were missing from his bedroom. Many of his dresser drawers were also open and appeared to have been rummaged through, police said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Det. Cunningham at 973-509-4716.  

In addition to the homes, two local auto body shops—Montclair Collision on Walnut Street and Alex and Leo Auto Body on North Willow Street—also were burglarized, on Thursday, Montclair Police reported.

Montclair Collision didn't report any items missing, only that someone had pushed in a window. At Alex and Leo’s, though, someone had gotten in through a window and had taken two laptop computers as well as two small motor bikes. Someone also had gotten inside several of the cars on the property, police said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Det. Barnes or Det. Rivera at 973-509-4733.