Comments on: Dear PoP – Why So Many Car Windows Smashed on Florida Ave near Cardozo HS?

By: UStreetV

UStreetV — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:51:04 +0000

I have a solution to guard yourself against car damage/break in: underground, secured parking! Sorry, shameless self-promotion.
http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/doc/prk/1238412264.html

By: Jen

Jen — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:25:06 +0000

Welcome to DC. I live in Adams Morgan near 16th and Columbia and have had the following happen to my cars over the 5 years that I have lived in the neighborhood:

1) My 1991 Honda Civic was stolen. I reported it to the DC police, nothing happened and I had given up on ever getting it back only to find upon return from Christmas vacation a letter from the DC police saying that my car was in an impound lot. I had to pay $300 to get my stolen car back. Frickin’ ridiculous!

2) The battery of the same car was stolen. I’m guessing it was drug-related because how much is a frickin’ battery worth?

3) I had a rental car parked on Harvard Street that had a window smashed in and the lovely folks who had done that had put the hazards on (I believe in hopes that it would drain the battery).

4) My current car (2006 Honda Civic) was parked on Harvard between 14th and 15th and some lovely individual slashed my tire and the tires of about 10 other cars parked on the same block.

Again, welcome to DC!

By: gonzo

gonzo — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 17:24:57 +0000

Break ins in the area happen all the time. Very frequent in my dog walk area between 10th, W, 13th and V. Especially W St between 10th and 12th.

By: It would help if the police would come

It would help if the police would come — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 17:04:19 +0000

Advice I heard about some time ago. If you live close enough, put in a baby monitor transmitter, so you can hear the glass smash while you’re home sleeping. Pick up the phone, call the police, and let them know there is a robbery in progress. If only they’d come! Turns out, you’d likely just lose your baby monitor too….what a great city!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:58:40 +0000

My girlfriend’s car was broken into last month over on 11th street alongside Cardozo HS. We now know not to park on that dimly-lit, low-traffic area. I also *never* park along Florida at the south end of Cardozo because there is ALWAYS broken glass there. Unfortunately, it looks like the thieves have become more brazen and are now doing smash & grabs on 13th–my roommate’s truck was broken into recently.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:20:08 +0000

You only need $10 to buy a hit of crack or heroin.

By: WDC

WDC — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:15:46 +0000

Where is there an underground lot on Holmead?

Ian, my guess re: the fuse box is that it was some dumb kids thinking there was a button in there marked “hotwire”.

By: Mansfield

Mansfield — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:20:18 +0000

I also live near the Petworth metro. My car was parked on Rock Creek Church Rd. last Friday night and someone broke into it using a screw driver/hammer to turn the door lock. It looked like they first tried to break in through the window but were unsuccessful (they pulled a panel off the side of the window and pulled it out of it’s track).

Nothing was taken but they were trying to steal the car. When I found it the paneling around the steering column was littering the floor of the car. They had taken the hammer/screw driver to the ignition and it was so beat up it looked like someone had blasted it with a shot gun. There was no longer a hole, just metal peeling away from the hits.

The guy who towed my car said they damaged it so badly they couldn’t have driven it away even they had hot wired it because at this point the steering wheel was locked in place (which would require turning the ignition to unlock).

By: Ian

Ian — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:01:14 +0000

We lived on the 2200 block of 12th Street (between W and Florida) for about three years. During that time, we had two break-ins — one on the north side of Florida between 12th Street and 12th Place and one almost directly across the street from the house on 12th Street. The wall that runs below Cardozo and the line of cars parked along Florida provides quite a bit of protection for a snatch and grab. The vandalism aspect is almost more disturbing though.

Speaking of break-ins, in our new location (three blocks west of the Petworth Metro), we had our first break in just a couple weeks ago. The car was parked in the driveway at night, and someone rifled through the center console and glove box. They got away with nothing — as there was nothing of value in the car — and there were no windows broken. They did remove the fusebox cover near the floor on the driver’s side, but no fuses were taken, and there was no damage to the steering column. Odd. Our neighbor had almost the exact description when his car was tossed during the same week.

Two questions:

1) My neighbor and I assume both of our cars were locked — what are the non-window breaking options at that point? Slim Jim? Keyless entry device?

2) Anyone have any idea what they were after with the fuse box? Fuses? Air bags? An attempt to start the car without the key?

Bonus question: anyone know of a fencing/garage-door contractor that will install a remote operated overhead door to close off my drive from the alley?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:57:11 +0000

I actually saw a car being broken into just north of Florida on 13th and called the police. At the time, the guy was still inside the car rumaging around. The police never did come. Now when the same thing happens to my car and I think, “Seriously, no one heard the sound of breaking glass? No one saw it littering the ground?”, I remember the time that I did call, and nothing was done about it. Mostly it’s a crime of opportunity, but I think the perpetrators also know, that they can break in with impunity. Nothing ever seems to be done about it.