Police had four recent reports of articles stolen from unlocked parked vehicles in Ocean Grove.
Two of the vehicles were parked in the area of 30 Atlantic Avenue, one was near 100 Broadway and one was near 80 Asbury Avenue. Stolen were loose change, tools and a GPS unit.
Also stolen recently was a copper lawn decoration from a property in the area of 100 Cookman Avenue.
— CL
Metal theives will continue to steal until the metal dealers are scrutinized on a regular basis by the police. Do the police in Neptune turn a blind eye to fencing stolen property?
I was told by a lawyer friend of mine that it would be fairly easy for the police/town to find numerious violations at any scap metal dealer (e.g., noise violations, environmental violations, workplace safety violations, employee record keeping violations, equipment licensing and inspection violations — not to mention being in receipt of stolen property, conspiracy, etc.). His view is that a town could easily drive a metal dealer out of buisiness if they wanted to do so. How about Neptune Township/Asbury Park?
I also had 2 urns stolen from my front porch. The best part was they took the plants and Halloween decorations with them. Didn’t even bother to dump them! Police said they would check with the scrap yard. Did they? I never heard back from them!! I guess they were not all that important!
If you’re concerned about metal being stolen, you should take a look at the front-page article in this week’s Coaster, the one headed “Convention Hall Copper Panels Stolen.” It says 34 large antique copper panels, valued at “as much as $50,000,” have been stolen. The panels were temporarily removed from the facade of Asbury Park’s Convention Hall and were being stored in the Sunset Pavilion, north of the Convention Hall. Each of these panels is about 16 feet long by 4 feet high. The article says they went missing last August, but that city officials only learned about the theft this week.
Mary Beth. If you can comment, what is the “official” perspective on these disreputable businesses? Are they not crime facilitators? What is the responsibility of the police here?
I suggested a while ago that the scrap dealers should be held to the same standards as the pawn shops: Photo ID required and xerox’ed, proper signed paperwork on file. It is a similar type of operation/business.
The scrap dealers will take anything, as no one holds them accountable. The authorities should require a driver’s license or equivalent to be recorded for each transaction and there should be a hold period (e.g., 72 hours) before they can process what they receive. I’ve seen guys pushing shopping carts around Corlies and I can tell you for certain that the “scrap” in the carts included stuff that no one would throw out or that no legitimate person would sell as trash. Planters are one good example, working bikes is another — both items I have seen in shopping carts. BTW, aren’t those shopping carts stolen? Where are the police on this?
We had two large heavy copper planters in front of our house in OG. In broad daylight, somebody (probably more than one) dumped the dirt and stone down the alley next to our house and took the planters to Memorial Drive where the metal people gave the perps money. Surely they knew that the thieves stole the items. We got there in time to save one of the planters from further damage. The metal dealer did not seem upset that his role in fencing stolen goods was revealed. The incident was reported to the police.
Where would they find it? LOL. No offense, but as a resident in this area for my entire life and the child of a former/current trash picker in different towns, the answer is: YOUR CURB. Making money off of scrap metal is a legitimate way of making money. Not very much money, but if they keep it up, they probably make a decent sum. There are people in the Grove that do it, and I hope that doesn’t give anyone the shivers. If I had a truck I’d do it. I have run after the local guys (one guy lives in Neptune City, I think) after they have pulled away just so I can give them my scrap metal.
Let’s get this straight, paranoid residents of Ocean Grove. Nobody is browsing your streets for metal planters to use as scrap metal. There is plenty of iron on the curbs of the different towns of this area to satisfy the guy on the bike with the ladder attached (you may have seen him) and the men driving old trucks and vans around. The real theft as far as scrap metal goes usually has to do with construction sites, abandoned houses, and maybe even public sites. Copper is very popular, and it is a shame that people are stealing it even from places such as churches. Does this mean that no one is ever going to steal anything from a property in OG? No, of course not. This does not mean that we look at everyone with a suspicious eye.
But y’all can do what you like, and you prolly will.
In another string in this blog (Broken Window Theory), there were several comments about scrap metal dealers. One of them actaully described a younger man carrying a metal planter pot in a baby carriage with a bunch of other “scrap” metal. I believe that scrap metal dealers — through turning a blind eye (or worse) — reward criminals for stealing stuff from the Grove. One has to wonder where individuals “find” the scrap metal they bring to the scrap metal dealer. I support an aggressive police role in making sure that scrap metal dealers feel the heat such that they do not accept stolen property, or property that seems like it could be stolen. Where would an individual get a planter, or a lawn decoration, or a bike he is willing to sell as junk? Let’s face it, scrap metal dealers are bad for the community and havens for criminal activity. Perhaps someone can get the interest of the township to regulate these businesses to discourage petty theft.