SWAMPSCOTT — Police are warning drivers to lock their unattended vehicles after noticing a spike in car break-ins over the weekend.
Since Friday, Swampscott Police Sgt. Jay Locke said there have been roughly eight motor vehicle break-ins on the lower end of Humphrey Street near the Lynn city line. He said most of this weekend’s break-in victims left their cars unlocked.
With the prevalence of home security systems such as Google Nest video doorbells in the area, Locke said police were able to obtain footage of a man walking through nearby driveways.
Police encourage anyone with information that could be used to help identify the man in the image above to call the Swampscott Police Department at 781-595-1111.
Locke advised local residents to keep their car doors locked and to hide valuable items when leaving a car unattended. He said it has been a long time since Swampscott Police saw an uptick in car break-ins, but that residents should still use street smarts when they park their cars.
“Unfortunately, it happens. In the past, we’ve had someone hit like 15 cars in two minutes. We haven’t seen that in a long time,” Locke said. “We try to give [the public] as much information as we can to not become victims, but unfortunately, it still happens. People get distracted.”
Typically, Locke said if a car is locked and there are no valuables visible from the exterior, a thief will simply move on to the next vehicle.
“None of these cars have had broken windows or anything like that — no damage going into them, they were just unlocked. It’s giving someone easy access to your property. The person could be in and out of the car in seconds,” Locke said. “If a car is locked, we notice that they don’t take the time to try to get into the car. If the door’s locked, they keep moving.”
