Stats on stolen cars may be ugly, but the numbers on vehicle break-ins are worse, said the third police district’s deputy commander.
“We still have auto thefts, but our biggest problem is theft from vehicles,” Lt Eric Burnett told the urban-district advisory committee Thursday afternoon.
According to the third district’s freshest data, eight cars were burglarized in Silver Spring’s central business district between Mar 4 and Mar 12. A lot of that action went down in one weekend along the 8700 block of First Avenue, and on the 1200 and 1400 blocks of East-West Highway. Thieves snatched small electronic gadgets left inside the cars, namely GPS units and cell phones, Burnett said.
Compare the eight break-ins with one auto theft just outside the central business district during the same period. That vehicle — a 1996 Jeep Cherokee — was jacked from the 800 block of Easley Street. According to Burnett, the Cherokee is a car thief’s ride du jour.
Burnett added that home burglaries are a concern for the third district, which stretches from Eastern Avenue in South Silver Spring, to the Howard County line. Much of the burglary action goes down beyond the Beltway, according to the most recent crime report.
However, one resident of the 8700 block of Georgia Avenue lost jewelry and credit cards to burglars on the evening of Mar 4. In that case, thieves entered through an unlocked door, the crime report states.
The remedy for crime in Silver Spring: tougher sentencing laws, Burnett said. Many perps busted in the third district are repeat offenders, he explained.
According to state law, a full home invasion that involves theft and putting a hurt on someone gets a perp no more than 20 years in the joint, or a maximum 10 years if violence is subtracted from the equation. Breaking into a car locks up a perp for no more than three years; stealing the entire car translates to five years in the pokey.
Photo: Car break-ins always suck ass. Courtesy of Flickr user RaleighWoman.
Read 
What the hell are they building now? Learn more from 
Boxed wines and rosés are back in vogue. Just ask The Penguin's sommeliers.
Our Dodge Caravan has been broken into 4 times in 4 years while parked in front of our house 3 blocks north of the CBD. These are amatuer thugs working their way up the thug ladder. They use a screwdriver to pop the door lock and then shove it into the ignition hoping to jack the car. A professional would know that the ‘04 Caravan has an electronic key that defeats the screwdriver jam technique. The cops need to start focusing on these “little” crimes before the thugs graduate to more serious activities.
Jennifer – just a curiosity… where on the 1200/1400 blocks of east-west were the burglaries? I can’t think of ANY on-street parking on east west.. that up near silverton and such, right? Was it in the parking garages of private buildings?
The 1400 E-W Highway is from the intersection with Colesville over toward 16th St. The cars must have been burglarized at the apartments at Falkland Chase. You’d think most folks were in and out of CVS, Kinkos, and Einstein’s for too many break-ins in that parking lot.
The crime report doesn’t say exactly where those break-ins occurred. However, the Lenox Park apartments (1400 East-West Hwy) does have a garage. Buildings along the 1200 block of East-West Hwy (The Bennington, The Silverton, and Blair East) also have garages.
Terry in Silver Spring wrote:
The parking lot may be safe, but according to the most recent crime report, a man was stabbed as he walked out of the restroom at FedEx Kinko’s. The victim may have known his assailant, says the report.
Note to self: Pee before going into FedEx Kinko’s. Maybe in the parking lot.
The amount of vehicle break-ins in the area have actually stopped me from buying a discrete GPS unit (a Dash Express, in particular). Yeah, I can get it insured against theft, but who wants the hassle of replacing it?
I’ve actually seen the cops warn that just the suction marks on your windshield tip off the perps that there’s something worth stealing in your car, so I can’t even get a phone cradle. Lame.
I drive a 8-year old crappy Ford sedan. I couldn’t give my car away to thieves if I tried. In a way, I am lucky to have this vehicle.
Mr. Edited4Content
–AKA IHateYuppies–
Ya got someone being edited for content, by someone contemplating pissing in a Kinko’s parking lot… and I just have to say, damnit… that’s why I moved here, high rent & all.
Editor’s note: One of these days I’ll explain why some things get edited out, and why some things are perfectly acceptible. There’s a method to my madness. — JD (Mar 26, 2008)
I live on Lanark in South Four Corners – there have been a lot of break ins to both homes and cars (luckily more cars than homes), but it is a big issue in just outside the city too.
Hey, could someone let me know where I can find the best information on recent crime news in Silver Spring? I’ve got a neighbor telling me about an attack in “the neighborhood” just in the last few days, but have no idea where I can find information on it without waiting several weeks for the police to issue their weeklies. I assume if I can find something, it would be from a news source . . .
Not sure if you’re talking about the attempted armed robbery in East Silver Spring last week, but the police will be talking about it and other crime at the next ESSCA meeting, Monday, April 21st at 7:30pm. ESSCA meetings are in the community center at the corner of Sligo AVE and Piney Branch.
Clancy,
The Gazette has a crime report every Wednesday, and the Wash. Post’s MoCo weekly has a crime report every Thursday; the Gazette differs from the Post only in that the Gazette is willing to detail the race of the perp, which the Wash. Post for some reason deems unimportant when trying to alert people to a bad guy’s appearance.
Both of those publication’s are available online.