Crimes Continue to Escalate in Winchester

It's a problem that doesn't seem to be going away anytime soon.

It started with car break-ins, but now the fear is that these crimes are beginning to escalate. Over the last two weeks two cars were stolen and the Hess Gas Station was robbed.

"In one of the neighborhoods there were a number of car break-ins, so it's possible it was the same people who stole the car," said Winchester Police Lieutenant Peter MacDonell. "We're definitely concerned."

Both cars were recovered in Woburn with nothing taken from the vehicles. MacDonnell believes that the thieves probably took the car because they needed a ride to get somewhere, so he was not surprised that the cars were found so quickly.

MacDonnell continues to urge the public to lock their car doors at night, even if they park the car in their driveway. And even if their doors are locked, he stresses the importance of removing any valuables from the vehicle.

But Winchester is not alone in this spike in burglaries. Police Departments in Melrose, Wakefield, Reading, Stoneham and Saugus formed a local task force to deal with the situation. The goal is to better share information, in the hopes of ending this crime spree.

MacDonnell said that the Winchester PD will not be joining in the task force at this time, but he explained that it is important to take note of the increase in break-ins not just in Winchester, but in the surrounding towns.

"This isn't the same people doing it in every town," MacDonnell said. "There are motor vehicle break-ins all over the place. All neighboring towns are having an unprecedented number of break-ins."

Earlier this summer over night on Thursday, August 12, the town saw 13 cars broken into. And while there has not been a night as bad as that one, the break-ins have continued throughout the summer months. During the first week of August, Stoneham reported 20 car break-ins in one night.

MacDonnell believes the Police Department needs to continue educating the public on how to protect their valuables. The department is also taking an active stance as they try to combat this problem.

"First we need to educate the public so that they can take the steps necessary to prevent this from happening in the first place," MacDonnell said. "As a department one of the things we're attempting is to try and increase the amount of undercover patrols. There's a lot we're doing, but we just haven't seen any results yet."

The department has also been diligently monitoring pawn shop slips as well as craigslist. MacDonnell said that those are places where thieves attempt to sell their stolen property, but so far the department has not gotten any more leads.

MacDonnell believes that if the public begins to regularly lock their doors and remove their valuables from their cars then that may deter the burglars from entering their vehicles.

The department believes this is a group of people breaking into cars and not just one person. But the guess as to who they are still remains a question.