Stolen SUV, crashing Jeep: South Jersey crime spree shocks residents

🔑 Car burglary spree hits South Jersey neighborhood
🚗 Suspects flee police, crash stolen Jeep into parked cars
📞 Police urge residents to lock vehicles, report tips

WASHINGTON (GLOUCESTER) — A South Jersey police department is reminding residents to lock their car doors, remove keys, wallets, purses, credit cards, cash, and valuables, and report any suspicious activity immediately, after another neighborhood fell victim to car burglaries and attempted break-ins.

Spike in Washington Township car burglaries raises alarm

On Friday, April 17, township police responded to the Bateman Farms development for a report of a suspicious vehicle and multiple individuals attempting to enter parked, unlocked cars.

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The officers found a white Jeep Compass leaving the development, along with a white Chevrolet SUV. As officers tried to stop the vehicles, both drivers fled the area, running a red light at Hurffville-Grenloch Road and Woodbury-Turnersville Road, narrowly missing a collision with an oncoming tractor-trailer.

Police chase ends in chaos as suspects abandon moving vehicle

When the cars reached the Grenloch section, two suspects jumped out of the jeep while it was still in drive, and ran to the SUV, police said.

During a foot pursuit with the police, the Jeep driver slipped twice, all while trying to hide an unknown object in his waistband before fleeing to the second vehicle.

The unoccupied jeep, still in drive, continued rolling down Eastview Avenue, striking three parked cars before crashing into a tree.

Inside the jeep, police recovered credit cards, wallets, currency, and other items believed to be linked to multiple unlocked vehicle burglaries in the area. The jeep is secured at police headquarters, awaiting processing by detectives.

Stolen vehicles tied to multi-town crime spree, suspects escape to Philadelphia

It was later determined that the Chevrolet SUV had just been stolen from Bateman Farms, and the Jeep Compass had been stolen out of West Deptford the day before. The license plate displayed on the jeep was stolen from Philadelphia, police said.

The suspects, described as four young males wearing dark clothing and black face masks, got away in the Chevy SUV and were last seen traveling over the Walt Whitman Bridge into Philadelphia.

Additional reports of car burglaries were taken on Pennington Way and Upton Way, police added.

Anyone with information or surveillance footage is asked to contact the Washington Township Police Detective Bureau at 856-589-0330 ext. 1163.

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