UPDATE: June 21
On June 20, several bills aimed at reducing car thefts in New Jersey passed Senate votes with little to no opposition. They now move to Gov. Phil Murphy’s desk, where he can sign them into law or veto them.
Original story follows:
SOUTH JERSEY (KYW Newsradio) — The number of car thefts in New Jersey has increased each year since 2020, and lawmakers in Trenton are advancing legislation to crack down.
A proposed bill would remove the presumption of pretrial release for an individual arrested or convicted of auto theft if that person has another similar charge within the last 90 days.
“A lot of the people being arrested, there’s no detention and they’re being re-arrested sometimes the next day,” said state Sen. Joe Lagana (D-Bergen, Passaic counties).
“The reason for this legislation is because car thefts have been really rampant across the state,” he said. “It’s an epidemic because it’s just become so pervasive.”
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Legislators also want to focus on leaders of car theft rings, who often use teenagers to do most of the dirty work. Lagana said these criminals are getting more brazen — some follow victims home from stores and break into their residences to steal vehicle key fobs.
That scenario happened to Lagana’s neighbor when she returned from the grocery store.
“Left her key fob in the cup holder, had the [car] trunk open, took a couple of bags out of the trunk, went inside. When she went back outside 10 seconds later to get the rest of the bags, the car was gone,” he said.
The bill received unanimous support in committee. No date is set for a full vote.
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