Police Seek Man In Collingswood Burglaries

COLLINGSWOOD, NJ — Police have released images of a man deemed a person of interest in two daytime burglaries that took place in Collingswood on Saturday. He may also have been involved in the Sunday home burglary in which two residents were attacked and the home was set on fire, Collingswood police and the Camden County Prosecutor's Office said on Tuesday.

Police are seeking the man in the images attached to this post in connection with a pair of daytime burglaries that took place on Saturday. No one was home at the time of either break-in, but one resident did come home in the middle of a burglary at their home on the 400 block of Virginia Avenue just before 11 a.m., police said.

The resident was not injured and provided a description of the actor as being a thin, Hispanic or African American male, carrying a back pack and wearing a ski mask. He was wearing what police called a "distinct shirt" beneath a black sweatshirt.

The victim said the man told him to get on the ground before leaving. Detectives found video of a man entering CVS on the White Horse Pike not long after the burglary. In the video, the man was wearing a multicolored zip-up with a shirt underneath that matched the shirt from the burglary.

The video can be seen here. The second burglary took place on the 400 block of Champion Avenue around 12:30 p.m. In a Ring doorbell video that captured him on footage breaking into the home, the man is wearing the same multicolored zip-up from the CVS footage.

“It is unknown at this time if there is any connection to the home invasion on Crestmont Terrace, but we are taking that into consideration as both investigations continue,” Collingswood police said in a social media post on Tuesday. “Either way, please be remain vigilant and aware of your surroundings and report suspicious activity of any kind to the police.”

A man broke into a home on the 200 block of Crestmont Terrace Sunday afternoon, tied one resident up and attacked the other, according to Acting Camden County Prosecutor Jill S. Mayer and Collingswood Police Chief Kevin Carey. He demanded money before setting the house on fire and leaving, according to authorities.

One of the victims in that incident described the attacker as thin and darker-skinned with a short beard and dark hair wearing a yellow winter hat and a yellow and black zip-up sweatshirt.

Anyone who has information that could help identify the man seen in the surveillance footage is asked to contact Camden County Prosecutor’s Office Detective Mike Batista at 856-676-8175 or Collingswood Sgt. William Lyons at 609-868-0266. Tips may also be emailed to ccpotips@ccprosecutor.org.