Crime & Safety

Note to Thieves: Don't Leave Your Hazard Lights On

Also, a squirrel invades a hospital ER for the second time.

Each Monday, Patch takes a peek at some of the more surprising, shocking, stunning and occasionally silly police-related incidents reported throughout New Jersey for "OMGs from NJ PDs." Here are a couple of the reports:

When Robbing a Store Becomes a 'Hazard:'

A tip to would-be thieves: Don't leave the hazard lights on to the getaway vehicle while committing a robbery.

Find out what's happening in Parsippanywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

, an officer was alerted to an armed robbery of a Route 22 7-Eleven when the thieves left the hazard lights on to their car that was parked on the shoulder of the roadway outside the store.

Patrolman Brian Trotman witnessed one man sitting inside the vehicle while two others were robbing the convenience store clerk at gunpoint, police said.

Find out what's happening in Parsippanywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Trotman and another officer apprehended the thieves a short time later and recovered the weapon and proceeds taken from the store, police said.

"It really couldn't have gone any better than that," Springfield Lt. Damon Quirk said.

The three men were each charged with armed robbery, but at least they avoided receiving any motor vehicle violations.

A Squirrel Goes Nuts in the ER:

Firefighters were called last Monday to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in Rahway when a flying squirrel was found in the emergency room, according to NJ.com.

According to the story, the squirrel was finally corralled after it continuously launched itself from an 8-foot-high wall-mounted lamp into a glass wall.

It was actually the second time a squirrel has invaded the ER recently.

Now that's just nuts.


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