Burglars hit Scarborough cars

GPS units, change, electronics taken in 20-vehicle spree overnight Saturday.

SCARBOROUGH — If there’s one thing that can be said about criminals is Scarborough, it’s that they do things to excess.

First it was drive-by pellet gun shootings, with more than 15 homes, businesses and vehicles hit during a two-week period in June. Then it was burglaries – 12 homes were broken into between Oct. 1 and Nov. 15.

Now, it’s car burglaries.

Sometime after sunset Saturday, 20 vehicles were ransacked in the area of Sawyer Road and Maple Avenue.

According to Detective Sgt. Rick Rouse, in every case the hooligans (if it was more than one) hit unlocked cars and trucks, rifling through for whatever could be had – loose change, electronics, wallets and GPS units.

“People just don’t lock their cars, unfortunately,” said Rouse, on Tuesday. “Yes, it’s your own car, your own house, but it’s the 21^st century. Things are not like they used to be.”

All of the burglaries happened within a one-mile radius, including five on Abigail Way, two on Elmwood Avenue, three on Hunniwell Road, two on Laidlaw Lane, five on Maple Avenue and two on Sawyer Road.

In six cases, owners awoke in the morning to find that their vehicles had been ransacked, with the contents of glove boxes and consoles scattered across seats and floors, but nothing taken.

However, the booty from the night’s work included: An amplifier; a Leatherman tool; a handful of compact discs; an iPhone charger; an iPod; an iPod cable; a jackknife; an undetermined amount of loose change; three miscellaneous gift cards; two rolls of nickels, one set of stereo speakers; a subwoofer; a wallet with $25 cash and a driver’s license; a ziplock baggie with $40 in change; and, six GPS units.

For police, the most frustrating thefts were the GPS units, Rouse said, given that not one owner was able to provide a serial number.

“You can’t get it back if don’t at least have the serial numbers,” said Rouse. “We could catch them down the road from where they took it and not be able to prove it wasn’t theirs without the serial numbers to go on.”

Rouse said there was a similar if markedly smaller spree last weekend. In that case, he said, a suspect has been identified. This time, however, police have little to go on, apart from presuming all 20 burglaries are related.

“None of the victims heard a thing, so we don’t have much to go on,” said Rouse.