Over 50 Cars Broken Into In South Philadelphia In Recent Weeks, Police Say
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PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Police in South Philadelphia are urging people to not leave anything in their vehicles after a rash of burglaries in recent weeks. Police say more than 50 vehicles have been broken into recently.
Police think that one man is behind it all and he's getting in by smashing the little rear passenger window. And neither threats by car owners or even security cameras are deterring criminals.
Security video taken from the 700 block of Marvine Street in South Philly shows a suspect breaking the passenger side rear window of a Toyota before rummaging through it. He then scours the parking lot before doing the same thing to a second car.
A rash of vehicle break-ins has people fuming in #SouthPhilly. We're live on @CBSPhilly at 4:30p and 5p. pic.twitter.com/2IQv2o1mCP
— Matt Petrillo (@MattPetrillo) March 12, 2019
Police say more than 50 vehicle break-ins happened in the area in the last two weeks, and most of them are Toyotas, like the one found near South 11th Street. The car's owner wants to find out whoever did it.
"Don't let me catch you," said James Ferguson.
Someone also smashed the tiny rear window in Kathleen Hill's Toyota Rav-4 over the weekend, along with her neighbor's car.
"I didn't even get to my car and I saw another car broken into, it was another Toyota," said Hill.
All the break-ins are keeping auto shops busy, like A-OK Body Shop on Washington Avenue.
"The last couple weeks I probably did 20 a day," said owner Stephen Kulis.
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Police believe one man is behind all the break-ins because they all happen between midnight and 4 a.m.
"They break into the truck, they take everything out of it," said Lance Radcliffe.
Radcliffe, of Bella Vista, says after his SUV got broken into several times, he decided to sleep in it one night with his gun.
"I waited until 2 o'clock in the morning, he pops right out, so I pull my gun out. I said, 'Man, I don't want to hurt you, don't come back here.'"
Radcliffe said his SUV was broken into again, but he wasn't in it that time. He said next time he'll take matters into his own hands.
Police say if you know the guy in the security video, to contact them immediately.