Crime & Safety

Hackettstown Police Charge Man In 2 Car Break-In, Theft Cases

Erik Mitchell of Hackettstown has been charged in connection with two car break-ins over the past month.

HACKETTSTOWN, NJ — One man from Hackettstown has been charged in two separate car break-in cases, along with taking cash from them, according to the Hackettstown Police Department.

Police have charged Erik Mitchell, 29, a Hackettstown resident, with breaking into two different cars at a couple of Hackettstown locations, Sgt. Darren Tynan, a spokesperson for the police department, said on Friday.

In a news release from the department, Tynan said in the first case on Sept. 24, Mitchell was charged with breaking into a car in the Hackettstown High School parking lot, its owner alleging that Mitchell took $70 from it. After responding officers connected with Mitchell on Bells Lane following the incident and charged him with burglary and theft, he was taken to the Warren County Correctional Facility, Tynan said.

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This past Thursday, the police department received a call claiming a man was checking door handles on cars in the IHOP parking lot on Mountain Avenue and entering ones that were unlocked. Police connected with Mitchell once again on Bells Lane. Tynan said Mitchell was charged with burglary, theft and criminal trespass then lodged in the Warren County Correctional Facility, after police say $5 in loose change was reportedly taken from one of the cars parked by the IHOP.

Questions or comments about this story? Have a news tip? Contact me at: jennifer.miller@patch.com.

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