Springfield Police Nab Suspected Tool Thieves

Last week, Springfield police arrested two men wanted in connection with a multi-town tool theft spree.

Police believe that since June, the two men have broken into tool sheds, construction site trailers and landscaping trucks to power tools ranging from drills and saws to lawn mowers and weed whackers.

Police say that surveillance photos from crime scenes show the men driving a Penske rental van to work sites, trucks and homes, which they would load up with pilfered power tools. The men are suspected of tool crimes in Freehold, Branchburg, South Plainfield, Madison, Maplewood and Summit.

At 5:40 am on July 20, Springfield police officer Anthony Reimer was driving to police headquarters at the end of his shift when he reportedly saw the Penske van drive through the stop sign at the intersection of Caldwell Place and Mountain Avenue. When he stopping the van for this motor vehicle violation Reimer noticed that the front passenger floor of the van was littered with tools such as bolt cutters, screwdrivers, flashlights and crow bars.

Reimer recognized the tools as ones commonly used in burglaries, and connected the van with an area alert about the tool thefts.

When separately questioned by Officer Reimer and Officer Ryan Westover, the van’s occupants gave different explanations for where they were coming from and where they were headed.

The two men, Terrence Lynch, 54, of Phillipsburg, and Keith Dozier, 50 of Irvington, were arrested after police found they had active warrants for their arrest for failing to appear in municipal courts and their clothing matched surveillance photos on the recently issued alerts.

Lynch and Dozier were arrested and charged with the possession of burglary tools and receiving stolen property after tools inside of the van—weed whackers, chain saws and lawn mower leaf collector attachments—were identified as stolen in burglaries and thefts committed in both Independence Township and Monroe Township.

Lynch was released from custody after processing while Dozier was turned over to the Maplewood Police Department as he was identified in a theft of power tools in that town. Police agencies from different towns are investigating links to the nume