Garage Thefts on Putnam Street Leave Nine Automobiles Damaged

The most recent in a series of attempted car thefts at the parking garage on 125 Putnam St. left nine cars damaged last weekend, according to Harvard Police Chief Paul E. Johnson.

The secured garage, which is used by graduate students living in the Peabody Terrace complex, has been plagued by a group of "kids" who trespass and then ransack parked cars, Johnson said.

"Kids... tailgate [cars entering the garage] and go on a rampage," Johnson said. "They go into these cars looking for whatever they can find."

Vandalism and thefts are not rare at the Putnam St. garage, but last weekend's incident was exceptional because of the high number of cars that were damaged in one spree.

"This problem is not new," Johnson said. "From time to time there have been smaller incidents of this type [but] it's rare that you have this many break-ins."

Most of the break-ins occurred through the rear or front vent windows of the cars, which were damaged during the attempted robberies. Vent windows were used for entry because they are easier to force open than normal windows, Johnson said. But in some cases, driver-side windows were shattered and used for entry instead.

While not all of the nine cars had things stolen from them, at least one owner of a black Honda reported losing a $450 stereo.

Johnson said that there is often a series of this kind of incidents that are committed by one group of people and then subside.

"There will be a series of this stuff, and it will disappear," Johnson said. "I am quite sure that this represents the actions of one group of culprits at one time."

The majority of the vehicles damaged were not luxury cars. They were Fords, Toyotas, a Nissan and a Honda civic.

But the chief says his officers do everything they can to keep incidents like this to a minimum.

"We patrol it carefully," the chief said, "...this kind of thing has happened before."