Around 3:30 a.m. Wednesday, police say they were called to a home invasion on the 700 block of Green Lane in Mantua Township.
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The homeowner reported three men broke a window and entered the house, searching for the keys to a 2022 BMW X5 in the garage.
They stole that car and fled, according to police.
A few minutes before that incident, neighboring Harrison Township got a call for trespassing.
Police say three males wearing masks got out of a white SUV.
As they tried to approach a home on Garnett Street, an alarm sounded and they fled.
"Apparently, a motion light went off, startled them and they attempted to leave the yard through the gate," said Harrison Twp. Police Chief Ronald Cundey. "The gate was alarmed, woke them and prompted them to call us and come out and look around."
The incidents happened about a mile apart and within minutes of each other.
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Now the two departments are working closely together on the case, and are asking residents to check their surveillance systems if they live in those neighborhoods.
Last year, Harrison Township arrested a group of juveniles from Wilmington Delaware, charging them with attempting to break into cars.
Cundey says it's an ongoing issue in multiple New Jersey communities in the past few years, and he's hoping this one will also come to a resolution.
"It seems like they fled towards the turnpike, which most of them do. They either go north or south. So they're working on leads now with the state police to try and track it through automated license plate readers and other technologies," said Cundey.
Mantua police say one of those readers did pick up the license plate of the stolen BMW on the New Jersey Turnpike near Robbinsville on Wednesday.
Anyone with info should contact Mantua Township Police.