Vandals frustrate residents after ongoing vehicle break-ins in NE Philly

Northeast Philadelphia residents are looking for relief from car vandals costing them hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars. Residents in Bustleton in the areas of Bonner and Cowden Streets were the most recent hit by car vandals.

Tuesday night, they turned to police for help.

What we know:

Neighbors home security cameras captured a suspect get out of a car and smash a resident’s car window. The last rash of incidents happened last month in December. Residents also took pictures of the damage they woke up to find. When FOX 29 talked to them last month, they said it was happening several weekends in a row. In most cases, nothing was taken from the cars but in one case a resident reported golf clubs taken which they claim was used to smash other car windows. Some residents came out to a 7th Police District monthly crime prevention community meeting to talk about the issue.

What they're saying:

"December 14th, the first car was stolen and four days later the second car was broken into," said a woman who says her son’s car was stolen and the rental broken into while parked at their home.

What’s happening is costly. Residents say they’re paying hundreds to thousands of dollars for repairs.

"This is very serious what happened to those cars. And people work," said Ana Benitez-Hickson. She says a car was stolen from Kenwood where she lives. "I understand what the police officer is saying that they don't have enough manpower of police to cover the Northeast and I understand there's a lot of crime in Philadelphia but they need to hire more police officers," she said.

Her husband Kenneth Hickson also attended the meeting.

"I'm concerned because we live in a good neighborhood and it seems as though they're coming this way as opposed to down in the neighborhood where they have more police presence," he said.

Charles Cameron had several cars vandalized and stuff stolen from them while parked in his driveway. He says he’s done everything he can from calling 911 to using safety devices on their cars and key fobs to prevent thieves from copying them.

"My next choice is to move out of the city. I don’t wanna live like this," said Cameron.

By the numbers:

Lieutenant Brian Dougherty said during the meeting they’re aware of the problem. "The past month and a half we've had 20 thefts from autos."

He also says there are only five patrol officers working the 7th District when most of the incidents are happening overnight. He says the district does not control hiring.

The other side:

Police say they haven’t made any arrests yet but they’re on the lookout.

"I've had several officers actually find the kids doing this and they just take off in their cars. We follow them for them a little bit, but policy says we can't chase them and it's right. Because we don't want anybody getting hurt," said Lt. Dougherty specifically referring to innocent people.

What's next:

The captain of the 7th District is holding a monthly meeting next Tuesday at 7 p.m. at American Heritage Federal Credit Union at 2054 Red Lion Road in the community room. Residents were told they can get more detailed information about what’s being done and challenges then.

The Source: Information in this story is from 7th District police, Philadelphia Police Public Affairs and residents

Crime & Public SafetyPhiladelphia