More car break-ins prompt police response

Keep doors locked, windows rolled up, they urge

By Owen Boss

GARDNER — Police are reminding residents to keep their car doors locked and windows up when left on the street after a recent rash of burglarized vehicles overnight Friday. Just last week, Lt. John Bernard was quoted in The Gardner News as stressing the importance of keeping car doors locked, something that could have prevented these thefts. According to Sgt. Leonard Crossman, approximately 15 cars were reported broken into early Saturday morning, all located in the same section of the city. “Friday night we had a rash of car breaks and about 15 cars were broken into up in the areas of Racette Avenue, West End Avenue, and Brookside Road,” said Sgt. Crossman. Sgt. Crossman said because reports of the robberies did not come in until the following morning, police currently have no suspects. “Just to avoid getting random calls coming in, we walked from West End Avenue to Brookside and checked out all the cars along the street,” said Sgt. Crossman. “You could tell just from looking inside the vehicle that someone had broken in.” All of the cars reportedly broken into were left unlocked, something that he said police have been strongly advocating against over the last few weeks. “They were all unlocked,” said Sgt. Crossman. “These people don’t want to set off alarms, they don’t want residents waking up and hearing broken glass.” Although recent car thefts in the area have been attributed to GPS devices, Sgt. Crossman said in this instance they didn’t appear to be after anything specific. “They were after anything they can get a hold of or find of value,” said Sgt. Crossman. “These crimes are much more prevalent during the summer when its warmer and it is comfortable for them, and there is less evidence because there is no snow.” Unknown to most car owners, Sgt. Crossman said if you see that your car has been broken into, calling the police immediately and staying out of the vehicle could help police catch the person responsible. “They should give us a call before they go into the car,” said Sgt. Crossman. “And let us come up there first because someone may have left evidence laying around. They may have dropped something inside the car. And this also keeps people from contaminating the car for a canine search.” oboss@thegardnernews.com

Appeared on Page 1 on 8/11/2008 (Vol. 206 No. 189)