Car break-ins upset North Woodmere residents

North Woodmere residents say that their quality of life has been affected by a string of car break-ins which have occurred during the early morning hours for the past several months dating to last summer.
Items removed from the vehicles range from medication to power tools, according to police reports. The first incident recorded this year was on Jan. 8 on Van Dam Street and the latest occurred on April 15 on Janet Place.
Cranford Avenue resident Judith Gutman said her GMC Terrain was broken into twice: one a month ago and before that, last summer. “The first time they stole my change compartment including all the quarters I had in there,” she said. “The second time they stole my car cell phone charger and my Ray-Ban sunglasses. Both times my car was parked in my driveway.”
Nassau County police responded to her call, she said. “They basically said it was teenagers up to no good,” Gutman said. “I asked them about security patrols at night and they said they had them but that they couldn’t just stop anyone on the street.” She estimates that she knows of “at least five” car break-ins this year.
Other residents including Gutman’s friend Rochelle Taub have been victims of the thieves as well. She and her husband Scott were able to collect video surveillance footage of the perpetrators at work. The Taubs live on Plainfield Lane and drive a Toyota Highlander. “Police were called by my neighbor whose laptop was stolen,” Rochelle Taub said. “They only got petty change from me.”

County police spokesman Det. Sgt. Vincent Garcia said that the police were seeing an upward trend in larcenies from unlocked autos in residential neighborhoods in the Five Towns area overall in March and April. “We put extra resources in the area and on April 25, where two individuals were arrested in Woodmere for grand larceny,” he said. “Since the arrest, there has been one report of a larceny from auto in the Five Towns, and it occurred in a commercial parking lot. This vehicle was also unlocked.” He noted that the most recent incident did not match the pattern of the other car thefts.
Lt. Deputy Inspector Danny Gluck of the Fourth Precinct South Auxiliary, the volunteer unit that helps patrol the Five Towns, said that it’s possible that not everyone who has experienced this type of break-in has reported it. “There’s a difference between a break-in and larceny to auto, which is where the perpetrator smashes windows, creating damage,” he said. “There are people in the community who could possibly be doing this. If there is someone in your neighborhood doing this, report it, even if there is no damage done to your car.”
Gluck said that if only a few people are reporting these incidents, the police have a harder time to determine a pattern, and since the police use data to uncover crimes, they should know about every single incident that occurs so they can find the perpetrators faster. “File the report,” he said. “Even if it’s a single act, do it. Each one adds up, so you need to make it.”
Garcia also stressed the importance of collecting data to help solve crimes. “The department utilizes an intelligent based policing system, wherein when a problem in a particular area is noticed, it is addressed and dealt with,” he said. “This is a classic example.”
Gutman said she would continue to be vigilant. “Police claim they are working on the case but this ordeal has been extremely frustrating,” she said. “There is really nothing I could do to solve this problem short of joining the police academy.”
Remember to lock your vehicles, advised Garcia. “Don’t leave your car unlocked ever,” he said. “Don’t leave valuables in your car. Last year we saw some luxury vehicles stolen on the North shore, because owners left the vehicles unlocked and the fob in the vehicle.”