'Lock your doors': Police in Delaware County issue warning after string of car thefts, break-ins

HAVERFORD TWP, Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- Police in Haverford Township, Delaware County issued a warning to residents this week to lock their cars and secure their valuables after a string of car thefts and break-ins early Tuesday morning.

Police say this is concerning because items like weapons are sometimes stolen from inside people's cars, and if a car is stolen, it's sometimes used in a crime.

"Lock your cars, lock your cars," repeated Haverford Police Chief John Viola.

Ring doorbell camera shows that around 2:30 a.m. Tuesday, a white SUV drove slowly down Maryland Avenue, keeping up with four people on foot as they went from house to house yanking on car doors.

"They just walked up and down the street trying door handles until they found one that's open. If the keys are in it, a lot of times they are stolen or they just rifle through the cars and see if there's any valuables inside," said Viola.

A woman who only identified herself as Kathy told Action News she was one of the victims.

She said she normally locks her car but admits it was open. She said there were no valuables in her car, but the thieves still made a mess.

"You could tell it was looked through. They opened up the glove compartment, I had tons of face masks in there, they were thrown all over the place," Kathy said.

Haverford Township police said in total, three cars were stolen and five were broken into.

Police also said one person, 19-year-old Mekhi Solomon, was taken into custody after police spotted one of the stolen cars in North Philadelphia with Solomon inside.

A second vehicle was recovered in Elkins Park and the third has not been found yet.

Resident Andy McCallum of Harrington Road says about three weeks ago, thieves stole thousands of tools from his work van which was parked on the street in front of his home.

His Nest doorbell camera captured them in the act.

"It feels like I was violated, I couldn't sleep that night. I was pissed," McCallum said.

Viola says, unfortunately, this is also happening in other suburban areas nearby, but the common thread in the instances in Haverford is the victims' cars were unlocked.

Police also said all of the crimes occurred within a two-block radius.