Rear window damage to an Ocean Avenue SUV. A fender was also damaged. Photo by the owner.
Ed. note: This story was updated with new information on Tuesday, January 31.
By Charles Layton
The Neptune Police Department now says 12 victims were involved in the spree of car vandalism in Ocean Grove this weekend.
Police said on Monday that two young men had been seen riding the streets of Ocean Grove early Sunday morning around the time that parked cars were being damaged with thrown rocks.
According to a police press statement released on Monday, “A witness reported seeing two younger males, possibly teenagers, operating a Nissan Xterra SUV color silver in the area.”
Blogfinger readers had earlier reported that an unknown number of parked cars in the Grove had had their windows smashed by rocks. One of those readers, Joe Abbruzzese, said that “two rocks were thrown from a moving vehicle with such force at our new SUV that one rock blew out the entire back window, sending glass throughout,” and that “a second rock the size of a grapefruit was thrown at the left front fender causing significant damage.”
Monday’s police statement said the various acts of vandalism took place in the early morning hours of Sunday “most likely between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m. The actor(s) targeted cars parked on the street, breaking windows in an apparent random manner.” The cars were not entered and nothing seems to have been stolen.
The police did not say exactly where the crimes occurred, except to say that they were “throughout the area north of Broadway.” Our readers spoke of at least two incidents happening along the eastern end of Main Avenue. Another reader said she saw a car with smashed-out windows at Pennsylvania and Broadway and another at New Jersey and Broadway. And another reader said someone smashed the front door of her house on Mt. Tabor over the weekend, apparently on the same night as the car vandalism.
Police Officer Kaan Williams is investigating, and anyone with information is asked to contact Williams by calling the police department at 732-988-8000.
Angry, stupid, antisocial, unemployed, and soon to be felons.
Do we have a better description of the two males…..etc.
Looks like the police should pull registrations for any Nissan Xterra SUV color silver in AP, Bradley and Neptune. That would be a good place for a detective to start. Too bad we don’t have some traffic cameras at the street entrances to town — then we would have a license plate number.
I wish they would post the police blotter in our local paper like the other towns do.