LACEY TOWNSHIP, NJ – On Sunday, October 10, 2021, at approximately 11:00 p.m., Officers Michael Hyle and Scott Keefe responded to the area of Lacey Road and Arlington Avenue for a report of a vehicle left in the middle of the road. The vehicle was described as a white BMW SUV with extensive damage and no one around it. Officers discovered that the BMW was reported stolen from Muttonville, New York. A witness described that two male subjects exited the BMW and approached him for help. The witness felt unsafe and drove away without further contact.
While officers were investigating the first incident, Officer Patrick Watkins was flagged down in the parking lot of Wawa, 800 Lacey Road, by a subject claiming that her vehicle was just stolen. Investigation at the scene discovered that two subjects came upon an adult male who was sitting in his Lincoln MKZ in the Wawa lot.
One of the suspects demanded that the male exit his car and began pulling at his shirt from the open window. The victim reported that while he was fighting off the suspect, a second suspect entered the passenger door and attempted to pull him out without success. Both males then entered a second vehicle parked in the lot that was running unoccupied. The owner of the vehicle reported that as she exited the store, one suspect jumped in her vehicle on the passenger side while the other suspect pushed her out of the way at the driver’s side door. The suspects stopped to pick up two additional suspects prior to fleeing lot. All four suspects are assumed connected to the BMW recovered on Lacey Road.
The vehicle stolen from Wawa, a 2021 Kia Optima, was found abandoned in Manalapan, New Jersey on Monday, October 11, 2021.