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Summit police describe armed West Summit home invasion, reinforce auto-theft task force
Summary
Summit Police Chief Steve Zugorski outlined an ongoing investigation into a Feb. 21 armed break-in in West Summit and described intensified auto-theft enforcement, undercover operations and community prevention steps including Ring-camera registration and free home security assessments.
Summit Police Chief Steve Zugorski told the Common Council on March 4 that detectives are continuing to investigate an armed home invasion that occurred early on Friday, Feb. 21, in the West Summit neighborhood on Greenbrier Drive, and that the department has stepped up targeted auto-theft enforcement across the region.
The chief said two suspects entered an occupied house using a garage door opener taken from a vehicle parked outside, remained inside for a few minutes, stole property and located a vehicle key fob. One suspect left in a waiting vehicle; the other drove away in the homeowner’s car. “When someone breaks into an occupied home, it’s way more than just a crime,” Zugorski said, adding that surveillance video showed one suspect armed with a handgun. “This is unacceptable. … If I’m being honest, something like this, it just pisses us off.”
Zugorski described an existing “auto theft task force” the department assembled over the past three years and said detectives are working the case with the New Jersey State Police Task Force, the Union County Sheriff’s Office crime-scene unit and the Union County Prosecutor’s Office. He said detectives followed stolen vehicles into other counties during recent probes and that, in a previous case, Summit officers and partners arrested four people after locating a stolen Range Rover in Elizabeth.
The chief outlined enforcement tactics used before and after the Greenbrier incident: data-driven high-visibility preventive patrols, covert undercover surveillance, decoy operations, overtime patrols, and “follow-up investigations, which often lead our detectives out of town.” He said after the Feb. 21 break-in Summit officers staked out a recovered vehicle for roughly 16 hours while investigating leads.
Zugorski urged residents to take specific precautions and use city services: sign up for Nixle alerts, register private security or “Ring” cameras with the police department so officers can rapidly identify nearby cameras after crimes occur, and schedule a free home security assessment offered by the department. He also advised residents that if their home alarm sounds at night the first call should be to 911 so police can respond immediately; in one prior case, a quick call allowed officers to reach a house within seconds.
Council members and the mayor thanked the chief and the department for the response. Council members emphasized the need to maintain staffing and resources and cited the department’s recent targeted operations, including a drone deployment and weekend patrols. Council members also noted the financial and personal strains caused by overtime deployments and repeated that hiring additional officers remains a council priority.
Why it matters: the incident involved an occupied home and a firearm, and the department described cross-jurisdictional investigative work and tactics intended to curb a string of vehicle thefts and related burglaries. The chief recommended concrete steps residents can take to support investigations and reduce risk.
Ending: The chief said detectives will continue to follow leads and that the department will “dedicate all available resources to identifying and catching these suspects and to keeping the community safe.” He asked residents to remain vigilant and to sign up for local alerts and camera registration to help investigations.
