Numerous car break-ins reported in Valley Stream

A series of car break-ins last week in Valley Stream has gotten the attention of Nassau County police officers.

Last Monday night alone, more than a dozen cars were broken into in various municipal parking lots. Police report that a majority of those crimes happened between 9:30 p.m. on Aug. 16 and 7:30 a.m. the next morning.

Stanley Slevinski, the crime analyst for the 5th Precinct, said the thieves targeted the parking lot behind Monica Village, the Long Island Rail Road lot, the municipal lot on South Grove Street, and the lot at South Central and Jamaica avenues, across from Village Hall.

Police have since stepped up their patrols of the area, including two special details last Thursday and Friday nights. Slevinski said there have been no car break-ins since the middle of last week.

The thieves stole GPS systems and cash from cars, but in a lot of cases they just broke-in to cars to "go shopping," according to Slevinski. "A lot of them there was no loss," he said, "but they still broke the window to get in."

Slevinski said the police believe that two men are responsible for the car break-ins based on witness interviews. He said that police will continue their increased patrols of the municipal parking lots in Valley Stream.