Group Of Armed Young Adults, Kids From Delaware Causing Chaos In Salem County, New Jersey, Police Say
CARNEYS POINT, N.J. (CBS) -- Police are urging people to be on the lookout for a group of armed kids and young adults from Delaware causing chaos in South Jersey. They have hit several areas in Salem County in only the last few weeks.
Carneys Point police say the young suspects swarm around an unsuspecting victim before attacking them and taking their car, cash, or anything they can get their hands on.
Security video shows the moments three people rush into a gas station booth before taking off with part of the register and about $6,000 inside. It happened at the Conoco Gas Station on Route 130 in Carneys Point by the Deepwater Truck Terminal on Oct. 14 around 9 p.m. A worker says the three suspects were armed.
Another robbery happened in broad daylight just a few days later at the J&J Carwash in Penns Grove.
"It was pretty frightening," J&J Carwash owner Jeff Robertson said.
The owner of J&J Carwash says security video shows a customer stepping out of her car around 8 a.m. Monday when three suspects pummeled her to the ground before a fourth suspect took off with her vehicle.
"She was here not even a minute," Robertson said. "Wrong place, wrong time kind of scenario."
That same day at the nearby Pioneer Gas Station, a worker says he was attacked from behind before suspects stole almost $400 from him and then tried and failed to take off with his Dodge Charger.
"They come from behind me, hit me in the head, I fall down on the floor, they keep punching me," Varinder Singh said.
Police say those are just some of a rash of incidents that have been happening in Penns Grove, Carneys Point, and other nearby areas in recent days.
"We've had 13 pursuits in a one-month period," Lt. Joseph Racite with Carneys Point Police said.
Police have connected the incidents to what officers call a "loosely organized gang of kids and young adults ages 12-25."
Police say they're traveling into Salem County from Wilmington over the Delaware Memorial Bridge.
"Once they hit the bridge, they're almost golden because they can get over the bridge and get through tolls and back to the area they know," Racite said.
Now officials have a message to people who live and work in the area.
"Be careful, be aware of your surroundings and make sure that you look around when you come out, that your car's locked at night. You don't leave your key in your cars," Carneys Point Mayor Ken Brown said.
Two kids, ages 15 and 13, were arrested earlier this week in Wilmington. Police say they were found inside a car that had been reported stolen in Trenton.
But police say as many as 20 people may be involved in the group of criminals who are behind the string of crimes.
Police urge if you see suspicious activity to report it.
