10th District Assemblyman's Range Rover Stolen After Break-In While Family Slept

HAZLET, NJ — A New Jersey assemblyman's Range Rover was stolen early Wednesday after thieves broke into the Hazlet home where his wife and mother-in-law were sleeping, according to the assemblyman and Hazlet Township police.

Paul Kanitra, the 10th District assemblyman who lives in Point Pleasant Beach, shared video of the break-in and theft of his vehicle bearing a state Assembly license plate, which he said happened shortly before 6 a.m.

Hazlet police said the vehicle was a 2023 Range Rover.

"We are currently staying with my mother-in-law in Hazlet for the next few months while our house in Point Beach is being renovated," Kanitra wrote in a Facebook post about the incident.

Tuesday night was "the one night a week I go down to Washington DC for work," he wrote.

The Nest doorbell video (you can watch it below) shows the door of the house open and one of the thieves run up to the front door and go into the home. Less than a minute two people run out of the front door. One gets into the driver's side of one while the second thief appears to stop to check the front of the car closest to the house before getting into the other. The car then drives off, with a white car parked next door pulling out after it.

Kanitra said the thieves "ripped off every screen window in the house. They then broke one of the windows and climbed in."

"Because New Jersey has such a high prevalence of these instances I keep the keys to my car in a special Faraday box that keeps criminals from being able to electronically copy the signal," Kanitra wrote. "I keep it nowhere near the front door. These brazen thugs searched the entire house until they found the keys anyway."

"After getting the keys, the group then stole my vehicle with State Assembly plates on it and sped off to Newark where they ripped the GPS out of the vehicle to try and keep it from being tracked further," he said.

Hazlet police said the Range Rover was found later in the day in the Bronx.

"We have no further information in regards to this investigation that has not been shared by this agency or Assemblyman Paul Kanitra himself," the statement from Hazlet police said.

"This is a problem that has been occurring in many if not all communities in New Jersey and beyond. We are grateful for all of the efforts that our residents take on a daily basis to help curb this crime trend," Hazlet police said. "We continue to ask that you help protect yourselves and your homes, we urge residents to watch out not only for themselves but also your neighbors and call in anything suspicious."

Anyone who has home surveillance cameras in the area who may have captured anything Wednesday from 5 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. or who saw anything suspicious or has information that may help in the investigation is asked to call Detective Richard Wilhelm at 732-264-6565, ext. 2518.

Kanitra said his wife was asleep in an upstairs bedroom and slept through the break-in, and that their dog, who was in a room downstairs with his mother-in-law, barked and woke her up, but she calmed the dog and went back to sleep and didn't discover the theft until later in the morning.

"My wife and mother-in-law are incredibly shaken," Kanitra said. "Any semblance of safety they have is now gone. They feel violated. Fearful of going to sleep again tonight. I am canceling my meetings in DC and driving home to be with them."

Hazlet police urged people to take the following steps to deter thieves:

• Keep all doors and windows locked
• If you have a home alarm system, please activate it when you are not home and when you are asleep at night.
• Lock vehicle doors and activate the alarm if equipped.
• If you have high-end vehicles and can park them in your garage or closer to the home with another vehicle blocking it in, please do so.
• Report anything suspicious that you see immediately to the police.

Kanitra praised the police response, saying, "I cannot say enough about how incredible and talented our law enforcement is. Every day they're in a fight with one arm tied behind their backs by our crazy policies, yet still they succeed. They have been vilified and are under constant attack from the media. Less and less people want to become police officers as a result of this caustic environment. We owe each and every one of them who steps up and puts their lives on the line a major debt of gratitude."

He blamed the break-in on the policies of Gov. Phil Murphy "and the safe haven that Democrats in the State Legislature have created."

"Gangs from Newark send kids under the age of 18 to do these things in our Shore communities while we sleep. They indoctrinate them and ruin any futures they could ever have, because of the value they hold. These kids only hold value to gangs because we have passed laws that create no punishment for kids any more. In NJ, if someone under 18 is arrested for vehicle theft, they’re usually out on the street that same night. There are no repercussions for anything," he wrote.

In February 2023, state Senators Joseph Lagana, Vin Gopal, Paul Sarlo and Richard Codey introduced a package of bills (that companion bills in the state Assembly) to target a range of criminal activities, including auto theft networks, the use of juveniles by ringleaders, home burglaries and the use of so-called “master keys” to steal vehicles. Read more: NJ Car Theft Bills Advance, Despite Protests From Advocates

Murphy signed the bills into law in July 2023.

"And now, I'm going to make this political. Because this is political. New Jersey, please wake up and vote every single one of these weak, woke assholes who votes for weakening penalties for crimes out of office," he wrote. "If you live in the cities, stop letting these pandering politicians ruin your communities and your children's lives. God only knows how many kids have been recruited into gangs because of the value they now hold as a result of the laws that have been passed. If you live in the suburbs, know this can and will be your house and your family next."

"My Republican colleagues and I are fighting like hell in the State House to raise awareness to this madness, but we will need a majority and true help from the Governor’s office to ever make lasting change. Please help us take this state back from lawlessness," Kanitra wrote.

Note: This article was updated with information from the Hazlet Township Police Department.