Over the past two months, Fair Lawn's rash of commercial burglaries -- 24 within the three-month period from March through May -- have halted as abruptly and dramatically as they appeared.

During June and July, non-residential burglaries -- which accounted for more than 70 percent of the 33 burglaries from March through May -- have all but vanished, according to Uniform Crime Reports provided by the police department. 

Residential break-ins, on the other hand, have remained mostly steady, with between two-and-five home burglaries registered during any given month since February.

Burglaries -- up 20 percent -- and larcenies -- up 15 percent -- are still elevated compared to last year, but total index crimes are almost exactly in line with 2011.

The lack of commercial jobs in recent months may be attributable to the absence of a single serial burglar who is believed to have committed close to 150 burglaries in northern New Jersey since 2009, including hitting five businesses on April 22 of this year.

In May, Detective Lt. Michael Uttel said the serial burglar -- whom police say never deviates from what has been his highly successful smash-and-grab break-in method -- typically lays low during the summer.

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For the first seven months of each year:

Burglaries by month for the past six months:

For a full breakdown of the last six years of Fair Lawn's UCR data:

*2012 crime statistics are through July.

Click here to find UCR data from 1990 to 2010 

Click here for more info on the Uniform Crime Reporting Methodology

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