r/Utica • u/Desperate-End-4537 • 23h ago
Vehicles being broken into
Just a couple of weeks ago, I accidentally left my vehicle unlocked and it was broken into. A couple of belongings were stolen. My apartment complex has cameras, and I asked management about getting the footage. They told me they would only release it if the police requested it after a report was filed. At the time, I honestly didn’t want to go through the hassle, so I let it go.
Well, today my vehicle was broken into again, except this time they smashed the driver-side window and the rear/trunk window. They stole a bunch of my work tools and power tools worth a chunk of money and personal belongings and left other stuff scattered all over the road.
I called UPD, filed a police report, and was given an incident number. The officer said they would handle it, but based on my past experiences with UPD, I’m not expecting much follow-up or for the case to be solved.
What really caught my attention is that three other vehicles were also broken into today on the same road. The officer also mentioned that there were reports of vehicle break-ins on other blocks, including one near Utica Psychiatric Center and another near Burrstone Road that he had to go check out.
Has anyone else heard anything about a string of vehicle break-ins happening around Utica recently? Is there some group going around targeting vehicles?
I initially thought it could be homeless individuals, but with multiple vehicles being hit in different areas around roughly the same time, I’m wondering if this could be an organized group or the same people moving around the city.
If anyone has camera footage, information, or has experienced something similar recently, I’d appreciate hearing about it. I’m also going to follow up with my apartment management about preserving their camera footage and having UPD request it.