Some quirky cases for the township police

During the month of July, the Mantua Township Police Department handled 3,228 calls for service, made 78 arrests, issued 156 motor-vehicle summonses, handled 263 investigation reports and investigated 36 motor-vehicle crashes.

The summer has continually been busy for Mantua’s finest, yet our officers kept the cuffs clicking as our community has been seemingly invaded by some of South Jersey’s most unexpected criminals, who came armed with bad ideas and worse executions. 

While perusing the police crime log, these cases in particular put a smile on my face and seemed worthy of sharing with you for a chuckle.

• A man was apprehended by police working courtroom security after attempting to enter our courtroom with a smoking pipe commonly used for smoking crack cocaine.

• A female shoplifter at Target fled the scene to avoid apprehension. She ran into the Wendy’s restaurant across the street, locked herself inside the bathroom and was subsequently arrested.

• A male and female shoplifted Kohl’s and garnered an assortment of clothes and shoes valued at $500. The male subject actually ran off with a new pair of kicks, and left his old ones behind. They were both apprehended.

• A man was arrested after stealing three vacuum cleaners from Kohl’s valued at more than $800. He brought his crack cocaine during the commission of the crime and had active warrants to boot.

• A female was arrested for stealing more than $1,000 in merchandise from Target. She was a fugitive from justice and was in possession of a controlled dangerous substance and a device that’s apparently used to bypass security or disable anti-theft tags.

• Officers stopped a fleeing vehicle occupied by two suspected shoplifters from Target. The male and female duo were arrested after being found in possession of the stolen goods as well as over two ounces of methamphetamine, heroin, illegal prescription drugs and numerous crack cocaine pipes.

• A female entered the Sewell Wawa near Center Street and verbally harassed and threatened a deli worker for taking too long to make her sandwich. The female was apparently wearing a shirt with her employer’s logo and carrying an employee identification badge. According to police, she is being investigated for terroristic threats.

• A male was arrested after he was found by police huffing a toxic chemical in the rear parking lot of Kohl’s.

• A juvenile male fled Target with more than $500 worth of Legos. The investigation continues.