by DAVANDRA BABB
davandrababb@nationnews.com
MORE THAN 30 PEOPLE in Bush Hall, St Michael, woke up yesterday morning to find their vehicles had been broken into.
But so far, only 17 break-ins have been officially reported to the police.
Many say they have been left feeling violated and fearful.
Security footage from two homes showed an unknown assailant dressed in a hoodie and a cap on the prowl in the wee hours of the day making his way from car to car.
However, the suspect only made off with a couple dollars as there was no cash in most of the vehicles.
When a DAILY NATION team visited the area, officers from District ‘A’ Police Station and the Forensics Department were taking statements and dusting for fingerprints.
One woman who asked not to be identified said the break-ins started Sunday.
“I have a motion light in my yard and I heard my dog barking continuously. She doesn’t bark like that, she would bark and stop. It was minutes to three then and I decided to go down to see what was going on. I eased open my door so that the person wouldn’t hear. I peeped over the wall and I saw a fairly tall guy in a hood. I didn’t see his face but he had either an ice pick or a screwdriver,” she recalled.
The woman said the culprit did not try to get into her car after realising it had an alarm, but was able to break into other cars. She called on parliamentary representative for the area, Arthur Holder, to look into the matter urgently before someone was hurt, or worse.
Lights needed
“I think this is ridiculous. From the time we moved down here it was very dark and needed lights and we were asking for them. When it’s dark, anything can happen. I would like these . . . people to cease doing it. If they want something . . . get up and work for what they want instead of making people miserable,” she added.
Faith Howell, of Parade Road, Bush Hall, who has had her car for just under a year, said it was frustrating that someone would break into it.
“This morning around 7 a.m. my neighbour called me and told me her and her dad’s car got broken into, and she asked me to go outside to check.
When I rushed outside to check, I saw my back window broken. They didn’t trouble my sister’s car next to mine because it has an alarm,” Howell said.
Howell’s neighbour, who also asked not to be identified, said the bandit who broke into her and her father’s vehicles was looking for money.
“. . . All they did was take the $17 out of my dad’s car.
“Everything is just offset now. I couldn’t go to work today. This is madness and it has to stop,” she said.
Linda Bowen, also from Parade Road, said she felt violated and uneasy.
“I came out this morning to go to work. I usually check my tyres, so when I came around, I realised the window was smashed in. They took a few coins . . . and some paper change, but that’s it. I wasn’t expecting this at all,” she added.
Bowen said her daughter recalled hearing the alarm go off but did not see anything unusual when she looked out.
“I don’t feel good at all. Next thing, they would be trying to get into your home. We will definitely have to step up our security.”
A resident of Park Road, who declined to be named, said his cameras were able to pick up the thief moving from house to house. He described him as a “desperate man”.
“He came and he peeped in the car but he didn’t break in because it was open. Then he ran and came to the next car. He was using a light and he searched up, then he moved to other cars. I just think he is desperate for money and a desperate man would do anything. The way he is moving, you can tell he is desperate,” he said.
A POLICE FORENSICS OFFICER taking photos of one of the vehicles yesterday.
Inset, Faith Howell showing where the thief broke into her car. (Pictures by Sandy Pitt.)
