Cedarhurst vexed by car break-ins

More than 50 vehicles were broken into in November and December in the Five Towns, with a majority of those break-ins occurring in Cedarhurst, according to Nassau County police reports.

In the last two weeks of the year, 10 cars had property stolen from them, and four of those incidents occurred on Dec. 26 alone, according to police reports. In many cases, money was taken from the cars, and in some, both cash and property were taken.

Rabbi Aryeh Ginzberg, of the Chofetz Chaim Torah Center in Cedarhurst, said that his wife’s car was broken into twice in one month while it was parked in their Cedarhurst driveway. “The contents that were in the car were strewn all over the car and outside as well,” Ginzberg said, “with all the change missing, as well as the GPS and phone charger.”

In an email, Ginzberg wrote that he had heard that a group of teenage boys were going from car to car and checking to see if doors were unlocked, and then ransacking the vehicles in search of anything of value.

As of press time, the NCPD had not responded to numerous requests for comment.

To help combat this rash of thefts, the Village of Cedarhurst is joining forces with the volunteer police and a volunteer civilian patrol. “After much discussion, the village board will be launching a ‘joint effort program,’” said Trustee Ari Brown. “Our dedicated auxiliary police, led by Commander Danny Gluck, along with the experienced Rockaway Nassau Safety Patrol, led by Yaakov Gade, will be patrolling the streets of Cedarhurst every evening into the morning hours.”

Civilian cars began patrolling the nearly 18 miles of village streets on Sunday.