Cops: Record License Plates of Suspicious Individuals
Woman handled dicey situation well, police say.
In the end, it was just a bank employee doing his job, but a woman did the right thing when she took down the license plate of a man watching and following a boy in Hopatcong, police said.
A Dupont Avenue woman told police that a juvenile male neighbor knocked on her door and told her a man in a silver car didn't just watch him, but followed him, police said.
So the woman let the juvenile into her home and approached the male, who was taking pictures of a house across the street, getting a description of the driver and his vehicle and its license plate number, police said.
The vehicle was gone when police arrived, police said. Officer Edward Janosko then entered the license plate number into the Department of Motor Vehicle database and contacted its owner, police said.
The owner told police he works for a bank and was there to photograph a house and document whether anyone was living in it, police said. The driver also admitted watching the juvenile, but only to see if he would enter the house, police said. No contact was made between the juvenile and the driver, police said.
Lt. Thomas Kmetz said the woman and the juvenile "did the right thing."
"We hear in the news about people who follow juveniles," Kmetz said. "This case was solved so quickly because the woman got the license plate number. Anytime you deal with a vehicle, whether it is for road rage, they are sitting in front of your house, they are all over the road in front of you, or for any reason; it helps the police a tremendous amount to write that plate down.
"It is not suggested that anyone approach the vehicle like the woman did. But in this case it worked out great."
For questions on this report, email brendan@patch.com.
Chiefschick
7:57 pm on Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Spell check much Brendan?
Brendan Kuty
8:01 pm on Wednesday, July 18, 2012
No, I didn't use spell check. But I'm not sure what I missed. Was it the "I" at the beginning of the first paragraph? Because if so that was a copy-past casualty. But can you point out what I got wrong? I'll fix it right away.
Nicolas
8:01 pm on Wednesday, July 18, 2012
I would think a man in a silver cat would most definitely arouse suspicion.
Brendan Kuty
8:06 pm on Wednesday, July 18, 2012
All right, that's kind of funny. My bad. The "R" is next to the "T" and cat and car each are words. So it wouldn't have come up on spell check anyway. My fault, guys. Good catch.
Nicolas
8:26 pm on Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Not to nitpick, but she also took town the plate. :-)
mark d'ambrosi
9:51 pm on Wednesday, July 18, 2012
First of all good looking out by the woman. Glad that our town has people who care! And that the town spell checkers are more concerned about criticizing spelling errors that are obvious mistakes and forget to first and foremost give praise where praise is due.
Rob L
7:29 am on Thursday, July 19, 2012
This is "FREE" news. Why is everyone always looking for mistakes? If you were paying for this info than I would understand the arrogance, but stop already.
Roseanne Marie S.
1:54 pm on Thursday, July 19, 2012
I agree with you Rob about the spell checking. It's not the fact that it was pointed out that gets me, it's the manner in which it's done. Why the sarcasm? The occasional mistakes made that I have noticed have never affected the integrity of the article. We all know the man was not driving a silver cat with a license plate on it. Plus it gave us all a good laugh.
Skye Fillmore
9:08 am on Thursday, July 19, 2012
Good job to this woman who was alert enough to get the license plate # .... We should all be so aware of our surroundings!!
Fire Brendan
9:26 am on Thursday, July 19, 2012
I understand the typos, but you have created a public gossip forum that embarrasses our town. I hope you are proud of yourself.
Warren
10:03 am on Thursday, July 19, 2012
Gossip forum?! Oh, yeah- better we bury our heads in the sand. I for one appreciate the opportunity to discuss what's going on in town with others, and I think Brendan does a great job with the site.
susan
10:51 am on Thursday, July 19, 2012
it was great that the woman let the kid in and do what she did what if the circumstances where different
Tammy
10:59 am on Thursday, July 19, 2012
A gossip forum? Hardly. The Patch reports on town news. The good, the bad, and the ugly. Even if the ugly wasn't posted it still exists and you can't change that by not making the public aware of it. Chances are you are going to hear about it through the human gossip chain anyway.
Roseanne Marie S.
1:52 pm on Thursday, July 19, 2012
I didn't get the gossip forum comment either Tammy. Without Patch I wouldn't know about half of the stuff going on in our town whether it's good or bad. The comments section gives all of us that care about our town and whats happening in it, a chance that we may not have been given otherwise, to come together and discuss things. Yes some people get out of hand with the name calling and rumors. But that's the great thing about Patch and the internet as a whole; you don't have to read Patch or the comment section if you don't like it or ignore the few people who like to get everybody aggravated with the inflammatory comments. I for one enjoy being able to log on and intelligently discuss the articles on here with my neighbors constructively. As Warren stated, I also think Brendan does a great job letting us know about the happenings here in Hopatcong.
IsItJustMe
12:47 pm on Thursday, July 19, 2012
Even if Brendan utilized spellcheck, I don't think it would have caught the errors as cat and town are actual words and they are spelled correctly. Personally, I enjoy the type-o's, as Nicholas pointed out, a man in a silver cat...come on, that is funny.
IsItJustMe
12:52 pm on Thursday, July 19, 2012
Now, to comment on the story itself. I for one am happy that people actually take the time to notice things out of the ordinary or help a child in need. Most people don't want to get involved in anything. Good thinking for her to write down the plate.
butt nose pete
1:44 pm on Thursday, July 19, 2012
WOW! That is good, I like to hear when the community doing the right thing. What about the strip joint in Hopatcong. Maybe it is a good idea to shut that hell house down. Allowing young girls to take cloths off for older truck driving married men passing through town is not a good idea or image for the school community.
Maybe time make a community effort to shut that place down. The community of Hopatcong is always good for not passing the school budget for the past 30 years. What about closing the strip joint in Hopatcong that is less than a mile from all the schools in Hopatcong. Children see and know everything. I am sure that gray building conversation has been talk about at the dinner table. How embarrassing of a conversation to have with your kids in you town.
apple
3:04 pm on Thursday, July 19, 2012
What building are you talking about?
Michael Flippin
3:04 pm on Thursday, July 19, 2012
butt nose pete - Not that I plan on jumping in my car and going but where is there a strip club within a mile of the schools?
Ms. Concealed
3:28 pm on Thursday, July 19, 2012
I'm pretty sure he is talking about Rumors in Landing, they should shut that place down its a imbarrasement to the town
Edubb
3:48 pm on Thursday, July 19, 2012
*Embarrassment...just keepin the theme going ;)
Observer
4:29 pm on Thursday, July 19, 2012
Somebody must have failed both spelling and geography!
DavidGoGiants
6:57 pm on Thursday, July 19, 2012
Lol Michael Flippin
Tony
7:34 pm on Thursday, July 19, 2012
Maybe i'm wrong but what is wrong with having a strip joint (near) town? Are crimes being committed there? Is there a criminal element being brought to town by having it there? Are minors being served there? If not, then what is the harm? It's better than having another empty building standing there not generating revenue and not passing taxes.
Ms. Concealed
10:06 pm on Thursday, July 19, 2012
So I misspelled a word and Rumors is Landing. What you never misspelled any words before Observer, you really need to get a life
KSolimando
10:57 pm on Friday, July 20, 2012
Thanks to P, you have my vote for neighborhood watch!!! Kids sometimes do not pay attention to their surroundings but in this case the level of detail was amazing! You are fearless!!