A Rash of Car Break-Ins Trouble Niantic

East Lyme Police say there’s been a rash of car break-ins in Niantic recently. Over the past two weeks, police have received about a dozen reports of items stolen from vehicles. Most of the thefts are occurring at night in the areas of Crescent Beach, Black Point Beach and Main Street.  

In some cases, the vehicles were parked in the owners’ driveways. In every case, the vehicle was unlocked.   

“They’re not smashing windows to get in,” said East Lyme Police Sergeant Joseph San Juan. “Most people don’t lock their vehicles and that’s what makes it so easy. People leave small amounts of cash, iPods or a GPS in their vehicles and you can get a couple of hundred dollars for that stuff.”

The police department is actively investigating the robberies. “They seem to be related,” said San Juan.  

San Juan’s concern is that there may have been more robberies than police know about. He said people often don’t report such incidents if the thieves take little of value. “We don’t know if it’s getting reported,” he said.

“If only one person calls, it seems like an isolated incident when in actuality it’s not,” San Juan said. “Of course timely reporting is what helps us the most. If they notice something at 2 a.m., they should call us. We’re here 24-hours a day, seven days a week but a lot of times they don’t want to bother us and they wait six or seven hours, and that gives the bad guy a six-hour head start.”

San Juan encourages people to call police, even if the items stolen aren't worth much, and report any suspicious activity as soon as possible. In the meantime, he urges people to lock their cars.