LACEY – Police are asking for the public’s help regarding any information on recent car thefts that have occurred in the town.
Police were first called to the scene of an abandoned car left in the middle of the road yesterday around 11 p.m.
Officers Michael Hyle and Scott Keefe of the Lacey Township Police Department responded to the area of Lacey Road and Arlington Avenue where they found a white BMW SUV with extensive damage and no one around it. Police discovered that the car was stolen from Muttonville, New York.
A witness told officers that two men excited the car and approached him for help. The witness felt unsafe and drove away without further contact.
While investigating this incident, Officer Patrick Watkins responded to another report of a stolen car that occurred in the parking lot of the Wawa at 800 Lacey Road.
Police learned that two subjects approached a man who was sitting in his Lincoln MKZ. One of the suspects demanded that the man exit his car and began pulling at his shirt from the open window.
The victim stated that while he was fighting off the suspect, a second suspect entered the passenger door and tried to pull him out without success.
The suspects then entered a second car parked in the lot that was running unoccupied. The owner of the car said she exited the store and one suspect jumped in her car on the passenger side while the other suspect pushed her out of the way at the driver’s side door.
According to police, the suspects stopped to pick up two additional suspects prior to fleeing the lot and all four are assumed connected to the BMW recovered on Lacey Road.
Police said the car stolen from Wawa, a 2021 Kia Optima, was found today abandoned in Manalapan.
Anyone with information pertaining to the incident should contact the Lacey Township Detective Bureau at 609-693-6636.
