Grinches caught on camera in Christmas burglary

Three burglars used rocks to break into Cherry Hill Mall on Christmas and steal more $35,000 worth of electronics from the Apple Store, township police said Monday.

But the burglars didn't factor in the mall security cameras.

Cameras captured the burglars driving up to the mall in a Nissan, putting on ski masks, and breaking in around 4:45 a.m., Lt. Bill Kushina said. Mall security immediately contacted police.

"While they were breaking in, we had guys en route," Kushina said.

The burglars got out of the store with stolen items stuffed in trash bags. They led Cherry Hill police on a brief chase on Church Road across Haddonfield Road and onto Sixth Avenue - a dead-end, Kushina said. They bailed out of the car, leaving the stolen goods in the Nissan, which had been stolen in Willingboro, Kushina said.

The burglars scaled a fence on Sixth Avenue and tried to get away.

Police arrested Travis Lawson, 22, of Willingboro, on the other side of the fence. A Pennsauken officer later arrested Velencio Creque, 22, also of Willingboro, shortly afterward. The third burglar got away.

Lawson and Creque face charges including burglary, theft, eluding police, and receiving stolen property. They were being held Monday in the Camden County Jail on $102,500 bail each.

"They weren't the traditional shoppers, going in and paying for stuff," Kushina said. "They were doing it their own way - albeit illegal."