In our small town alone, there have been three incidents recently:
-- the December theft of a Range Rover in a parking lot at the Short Hills Mall by armed thieves who shot and killed the car's owner,
-- the theft one January night of a new Porsche Cayenne in a condo parking lot by thieves who beat up the owner and,
-- most recently, the armed theft in broad daylight of a Mercedes Benz GL450 from a parking lot across the street from the Millburn train station.
Some years back, car theft was much more common in the state. Thieves were assumed either to be joyriders or bad actors who wanted to use vehicles untraceable to them in committing crimes. Cars of all types were taken; I recall reading that Hondas and Toyotas were the most popular brands. Most cars were abandoned and then recovered not long after they were stolen.
Then the situation calmed down, and the number of car thefts declined for a period of years. This may have been because manufacturers started installing kill switches and other theft-prevention devices in new vehicles.
Now car thefts are up again, and police agencies report that high-end luxury vehicles are common targets.
An unintended consequence of the theft-deterrent devices seems to be that car theft has become a violent crime. Newer cars cannot be jump-started, and thieves need keys to drive the cars away. As a result, carjackers confront drivers with threats of violence to obtain the keys. Quite often, the threats involve handguns. The risk of injury or death has become much greater.
Recently, New Jersey authorities arrested and charged several people with running a fraud ring that bought stolen cars, replaced their VINs and then sent the cars out of the country on ships through the Port of Newark. It is possible that other criminal groups are engaged in similar activity.
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