CLEVELAND — University Circle police are warning people who live in and visit Little Italy to stay alert following a string of recent car break-ins.
Since Oct. 14, 44 vehicles have been broken into in the area of Little Italy — often several in quick succession. In many cases, thieves smash a window to gain entrance, then scavenge for anything they can steal.
Among the items taken are cellphones and computer equipment — items with resale value. Thieves have also stolen three guns from vehicles.
The break-ins tend to happen later at night and in the overnight hours, mostly in parking lots and on-street parking. Police haven't found cases of thieves going into people's driveways or garages.
"Since October 14th we have had 44 vehicle breakins, most of them smash and grab type. They break a window, go in the car, grab what they can get and they're gone. So like under a minute or two so they've stolen mostly they're stealing items of value so either guns or cash that they find in the vehicle, computer equipment, cellphones, things like that that have some resale value to them," said University Circle Police Detective Tony Battista.
Police say they had a problem with car thefts and break-ins last year, but this year had been fairly quiet until Oct. 14, when the recent break-ins began.
"We're kind of charting that right now, trying to figure out if there's a pattern to it. It seems to be mostly parking lots and on street parking. They're not really going up into people's driveways or into people's garages. It's mostly kind of targets of convenience or where there's large amount of cars parked in one area," Battista said.
"They'll smash a window, grab what they can grab and then move on and smash another window and if its a parking lot they'll hit five, six, seven cars just in that parking lot."
Police are urging residents and visitors to help protect themselves by not leaving valuables behind.
"Our advice to everybody is just don't leave anything in your vehicle. Don't leave jackets, purses, weapons, anything that if someone sees just a sweatshirt on the backseat they're thinking hey there's other things in this car that I might be able to steal. What else is in here? And it kind of motivates them to go on a fishing expedition and see what they can find," Battista said.
Some residents have wondered whether it would be better to just leave their car unlocked. That may save your window from being broken, police say, but it makes it easier to steal your car outright.
"Then you're making it easier for someone to steal your car. Obviously if you've got the club on your car or something, an additional theft deterrent you know is it worth a window. Do you want to get the window smashed or the whole vehicle stolen."
Police also recommend parking in a safe, visible spot and reporting anything suspicious.
"Don't leave anything in your car, park in a well lit or well traveled area, lots of foot traffic. That's what they call natural surveillance where there's a lot of people around it kind of deters the thieves from going to that area. Then obviously if you see anything suspicious don't wait until they break into your neighbor's vehicle phone it in and let police check it out. You might stop a crime in progress," Battista said.
University Circle police are working with Cleveland police, RTA, Case Western Reserve University police, Metro Housing officers and area hospital police departments in hopes of catching whoever is responsible. They are also asking the public to help by reviewing surveillance and Ring camera footage to establish leads.
"People in the area if you have a Ring camera or surveillance at your business check your cameras and if you see anything that might look a little off give us a call," he said.
"Generally it's tending to happen later at night but it's kind of around the clock. We've had daytime breakins, we've had early evening breakins but I'd say probably about 40-50 percent of its happening after midnight in the wee hours of the morning when most people are asleep," said Battista.
