Eddie Connors parked his car at the NY Waterway ferry terminal last month and left his global positioning system device attached to his dashboard.
“I really didn’t even need it that morning,” Connors said. “But it was there from the night before and I didn’t even think about it being there. I was running late that morning and left the thing on the dashboard.”
When he returned to the Weehawken waterfront around 6:45 p.m. that same Monday evening, Connors found the passenger window of his Jeep Cherokee smashed and the GPS system taken from the dashboard.
It was the only item removed from the car.
Since January, there have been 37 such thefts of global positioning systems in the township, either at one of the three major parking lots along the Weehawken waterfront or on the township’s streets.
Among municipalities in northern New Jersey, only Lyndhurst, with 43, has had more thefts of GPS systems than Weehawken.
Second only to Lyndhurst
Of course, Weehawken has a slight disadvantage, considering that more than 30,000 vehicles pass through the township on a daily basis, with more than 4,000 of those vehicles parking along the waterfront.
There is lots of waterfront parking at the NY Waterway ferry terminal parking lot, the NJ Transit Light Rail lot, and the parking lots at the UBS Financial Center in Lincoln Harbor.
The GPS has become a very popular target for thieves for several reasons.
First, the GPS, which can sell for $400 or more, is the latest electronic fad. Both PC Richard in West New York and Best Buy in Secaucus reported that the GPS has replaced the iPod as the best selling electronic device in both stores.
Best Buy estimated that it sold more than 250 of the systems over the last two months alone.
Second, for some reason, the manufacturers of the more popular GPS devices, like Tom-Tom and Magellan, do not offer serial registration numbers or identification numbers. So when a thief takes off with a GPS, they can’t be traced like a laptop.
Third, they are easy to steal.
“You just reach in, unplug it, and you’re gone,” said Weehawken Deputy Police Chief Thomas McGorty, who has been actively monitoring the GPS theft craze in the township. “Even if the thief sees a wire, they’re going in, because they can take anything in plain sight.”
Fourth, when a GPS gets stolen, it still works.
“If you steal it, you can use the service,” McGorty said. “There’s no way of stopping it.”
So the thieves then steal the devises and “flip” them over as a hot, stolen good.
Same problem all over
“No question, they’re a hot commodity,” McGorty said. “They’re very hot all over the place, not just Weehawken. I know that they’re having the same problem in Hoboken and Jersey City. Without doubt, it’s a crime of opportunity. It takes seconds to get them. The thieves pass a car by, see the devise sitting there and they go get them. Because it’s a new device, it is the hot commodity, like stereos once were or satellite radios.”
So how can residents and commuters prevent the thefts?
“Unplug it and put it out of plain sight, like in the trunk, or take it into the house,” McGorty said. “Anything that is left in plain sight, whether it’s a GPS or a purse or even money just invites trouble. So just take the GPS and bring it into the house.”
McGorty said there have been meetings with the security personnel at NY Waterway and Hartz Mountain to discuss the rash of thefts.
“We are very concerned, especially with the numbers,” McGorty said. “But I think we’ve been more vigilant with the process of late. The numbers have gone down over the last month or so. We also ask residents to keep an eye out for anyone who might be hanging around in parking lots.”
McGorty said that the police have made several arrests over the last two months, charging people with breaking into vehicles, attempting to steal GPS devices.
Out $400
If anything, the victims have learned the hard way.
Michael Doumanian left his car in front of his girlfriend’s house on 48th Street in Weehawken for merely 10 minutes on a hot night last month, and his GPS was stolen. He has not purchased a new one.
“Although I liked having it, it’s not the end of the world not having one now,” Doumanian said.
Connors, the aforementioned commuter, has purchased another GPS already, but has been securing it better.
“I lost a $400 Tom-Tom and I had to get a new passenger window,” he said. “That’s my price for being a knucklehead.”
Jim Hague can be reached via e-mail at either OGSMAR@aol.com or jhague@hudsonreporter.com