Car Windows Smashed, Purses Stolen at Adath Israel, Police Say

A man smashed the windows of three cars and stole purses left inside two before getting scared off by a witness at Adath Israel last Thursday, Lower Merion police said.

Police responded to Adath Israel, 250 N. Highland Rd. in Merion Station, at 9 a.m. Jan. 24 on report of a theft in progress.  On arriving, the caller told police she had arrived at the temple at 9 a.m. to drop her child off at school, according to the report.

She parked in the rear parking lot, locked her car and went inside briefly. When she exited the building, she saw a man breaking her driver’s side window, police said. The woman began to yell at the man, who fled in a light blue van, last seen traveling on N Highland Road, according to the report.

The caller had no reported loss besides the damaged window, but two other vehicles in the parking lot had windows smashed out and purses stolen, according to police. One was valued at $500 and the other at $1,450, police said. 

Based on the information provided by two witnesses, the suspect is described as a heavy-set black male with facial hair, wearing all black and a black knit cap at the time of the incident. He was driving a light blue Town and Country van, possibly with a newer style New York license plate, according to the police report.