car break-ins hit philadelphia's chinatown

Philadelphia... be on the watch! There has been a recent spate of car break-ins in Chinatown in which electronic items such as laptop computers, MP3 players, and GPS devices were stolen. According to police, from March 29 to April 3, there were five such car burglaries in the area: Chinatown car break-ins spark caution.

Joe Eastman, coordinator of Chinatown Town Watch and the Sixth Police District Advisory Committee, noted that the break-ins occurred in daylight hours and at night. Eastman said most of the burglaries involved vehicles of visitors.

"My advice is to lock up everything," Eastman said. "It's usually things that are visible that are stolen from cars."

Police said thieves can notice a ring left by suction brackets used to hold GPS devices to windshields or dashboards and use such observations to target cars. They recommended that motorists wipe away any such tell-tale rings before leaving their vehicles.

Lt. Frank Milillo, of the Sixth Police District said police have noticed a spike in car burglaries in the area over the last three weeks. He said two arrests of repeat offenders have been made, but urged drivers to store any bags and valuables in their trunks. Milillo said that additional police have been deployed to the area and that officers have been informing visitors about protecting valuables left in their cars.

Damn, I never thought about the thing with the suction cup ring. Good advice. Despite the car break-ins, neighborhood watch groups insist that the area remains safe. I wish the same could be said for Asian students at South Philadelphia High School Yeah, I went there.