Philly police announce arrest, release surveillance video in car break-ins
PHILADELPHIA - Philadelphia police are continuing to warn car owners to be on alert amid a string of car break-ins and vandalism across the city.
Though the police say the city is down 1,000 in theft from autos, we still have more than 6,000 car break-ins across the city.
Police released surveillance video Tuesday that shows a suspect in car break-ins from the 2200 block of Sansom Street on Sunday between midnight and 9:45 a.m., when the windows of three cars were smashed.
Belongings were reported stolen from two of the vehicles.
Another video, police say, shows persons of interest on May 23 and May 30 where numerous windows of vehicles were broken on Pennsylvania Avenue.
So far, police have 55-year-old Isaac Tate in custody for three break-ins that occurred on North 5th Street in June.
Philly police arrested 55-year-old Isaac Tate for three break-ins that occurred on North 5th Street in June.
"I think it’s definitely encouraging to see that police are taking an action to see exactly what is going on. But I do think it’s kind of a larger problem than what’s coming to the surface," said Matthew Brown.
Matthew Brown and his wife Alli Bloemer are victims of a car break-in too.
They live in South Philly where the windows of 19 cars were smashed along Washington Avenue just two weeks ago.
19 vehicles broken into, vandalized in South Philly under investigation: police
More than a dozen vehicles were broken into and vandalized late Sunday night in South Philadelphia as police begin to investigate.
They immediately stopped using free parking on Washington Avenue where they say there are fewer security cameras.
"We actually just went and got one of the parking permits to be able to park in the parking permitted areas so we are now parking on our street," said Alli Bloemer.
We reported on similar incidents in Fairmount where at least six cars were vandalized and another rash of break-ins, in Center City where more than a dozen cars windows were smashed on 22nd Street between Market and Arch.
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Another rash of Fairmount car break-ins leave residents discouraged: 'People are just smashing glass'
Residents in Philadelphia’s Fairmount neighborhood are fed up after police say six cars were reported vandalized Tuesday morning.
"There’s no pattern. They hit and go out of their neighborhood quickly," said Deputy Commissioner Mike Cram.
Police say the suspects take change, wallets, documents with personal information or nothing at all.
Center City becomes third neighborhood hit by car vandals over the past 3 weeks in Philly
Philly police are investigating after they say several vehicles were broken into and vandalized in Center City overnight.
In one area of North Broad Street, police say they've seen 15 incidents with something more serious stolen.
"Some in this area the guns are being taken. That’s an absolute no no. If you have a permit to carry or not, you’re not permitted to keep that in your car," said Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore.
Police say it's important that people report anything that happens even if nothing is stolen.