Essex, Middle River Warned to Beware of Car Thieves

Sam Valencia is known for taking meticulous care of his vehicles.

It’s not uncommon for the Essex resident to wash and detail his truck several times a week, even in the winter. He also is a stickler for making sure his vehicle is locked at the end of the night.

That is except for one night last year—and it cost him.

It was on that night that his truck—and several other vehicles on Spencer Terrace—was burglarized. The common theme in each case was that the vehicles were left unlocked. Valencia, a Baltimore County firefighter, knows it could have been worse as all he lost was some spare change and a book full of CDs.

“I got home late the night before and got distracted by my son,” Valencia said. “I just forgot to lock the door. It will never happen again.”

Valencia’s case was very similar to several other recent incidents in the Essex-Middle River area. This includes last month, when two men from Essex recently turned cars along Yew Road into their personal shopping grounds.

The men went from car to car along the road in the Golden Tree community looking for those that were unlocked, and stealing many of the contents in them.

Luckily for the neighborhood, police caught the men—Jason Schneeman, 30 and Paul Cushing, 20—in the act of breaking into one of the cars. Police arrested the pair on Jan. 20 and charged them with fourth-degree burglary/petty theft in connection with the incidents.

Less than a week later, police arrested 21-year-old Scott Chavis and charged him with fourth-degree burglary after police discovered he had two GPS units police alleged came from vehicles parked on Reveola Beach Road and Mainsail Road in Bowleys Quarters. At least one of the vehicles was unlocked at the time.

Lt. Richard Lisko of the Essex Precinct said cases like these are all too common with would-be criminals looking for easy targets like unlocked cars.

“The most common cases we have of people getting items stolen from their cars comes from people who left their doors unlocked,” Lisko said. “So many of these cases could have been avoided.”

According to Baltimore County Police statistics, there were 6,375 thefts from autos in 2010 throughout the county, including 656 in the Essex Precinct. This compares to 6,704 thefts from autos countywide in 2009 and 657 in the Essex Precinct.

Police officials say there are several simple steps motorists can take to avoid having their vehicles burglarized.

Along with locking your vehicle, police recommend people leave the cigarette lighter in place. When the lighter is missing, police warn, it sends a signal to potential thieves that there's something valuable in your vehicle, such as a cell phone, GPS or iPod, that needs an adapter to be charged.

Criminals love to go window shopping, police said. They walk down neighborhood streets or go through shopping center parking lots looking through the windows of parked cars to see what people have left behind.

All too often, those thieves are given an opportunity: a car owner has left some valuables like a gift, money or electronics in clear view. It takes only seconds for the criminal to break the car window and take off with the merchandise.

“Just take the items in with you, or at the very least, put them in the trunk or in the back set and covered up, where the items are out of plain site,” Essex Precinct Capt. Michael DiPaula said.

Thefts involving vehicles are something close to DiPaula’s heart as he helped Baltimore County Police form the Regional Auto Task Force in the mid-1990s.

DiPaula said it is especially important for people to take the proper steps to secure their vehicles in the winter, when many people leave their cars with the keys in the ignition in order to warm them up in colder weather.

He added some reports show that 25 percent of vehicles were stolen because a key was left in the ignition.

According to Baltimore County Police, there were 2,404 auto thefts in 2009, including 293 in the Essex Precinct. This compares to 2,878 in the county and 362 in the Essex Precinct in 2008.

“Get an automatic starter or just don’t leave the car unattended,” DiPaula said. “It’s not worth it, plus an officer can give you a ticket for leaving a car running unattended.”