WESTFIELD – This holiday season has had rocky start for some city residents after a rash of vehicle break-ins were reported over the weekend.
According to police, there were five reports of breaking and entering on early Sunday alone, occurring less than 72 hours after four others were reported Friday, two on East Silver and Noble Streets, respectively.
Sunday morning saw a call come in at 5:17 a.m., with the culprits making off with a Yamaha keyboard, strobe lights and other goods from a vehicle on Pleasant Street.
At 8:45 a.m., another break-in was reported on Bates Road, where the victim’s unlocked car was entered and rifled through, though nothing was reported missing.
Another B&E was reported at 10:15 a.m. on Holland Avenue, with the victim claiming the unlocked vehicle had been broken into, though they did not believe anything was taken.
By 11:02 a.m., a resident of Pearl Street was claiming that two unlocked vehicles were entered, with a $200 pair of earbuds, iPod chargers and other Christmas gifts stolen from the trunk of the vehicle.
The day had barely reached noontime when a fifth B&E was reported to police, this time on Yale Street, and the victim, whose truck had been parked in their driveway for “several days” according to police, reported their GPS unit and debit card stolen from the vehicle.
The victim told police that they had received a call from their credit union asking if they had attempted to use the card at a Pride gas station in Springfield, to which they responded in the negative, telling them he had been home all day.
It was at that time that several purchases had been made on his card at that location, at which time the victim checked their vehicle, found the card was missing and phoned police.
An hour and a half later, police responded to another report of a vehicle being broken into, this time on Day Avenue, though nothing was reported missing.
Police could not provide any further details regarding the break-ins yesterday, but are encouraging residents to lock all of the doors on their vehicles and to remove all valuables from inside.
