Woodhaven Boulevard has rash of auto break-ins

Imagine getting out of work, eager to get home. You walk to your car, only to find it has been broken into – there is glass everywhere, and your belongings are gone.
This is exactly what Paul Challita said happened to him about a year and a half ago – and he says it’s still going on.
Challita and many of his colleagues say they park – or used to – on the Woodhaven Boulevard northbound service road, just south of Jamaica Avenue. But, with what they claim is an ongoing rash of car break-ins, they are more wary of where they leave their cars.
“I’d rather walk four blocks,” said Rakesh Pardeshi, who says his 2005 Mercedes Benz was broken into twice.
Though he said the costs of repairs were covered by insurance, and that the thieves only made off with a GPS and other small items, Pardeshi nonetheless said it was an inconvenience.
“I had to lose a day of work,” he said, noting that he had considered changing cars after the incidents.
Challita did in fact switch cars after his Mazda Tribute was allegedly broken into in 2007, with thieves making off with a navigation system, tools, electronics, digital camera and boating equipment, including a weather radio.
He estimates his losses were “a couple of thousand dollars.”
“I’m disturbed that it’s going on all the time,” he said.
A recent break-in occurred on Thursday, March 26 when another man, who declined to give his name, claims that his 2008 Honda Accord was vandalized.
“I had seen other cars broken into, but I thought they would stay away from mine,” he said. “I was showing nothing [in the vehicle] – no coins, nothing.”
He said that he followed his usual routine, parked, and even checked his car at lunch.
But when he got out of work at 5:30, he said, he saw that his car – as well as that of another woman parked on the very same block – had been hit, though nothing of value was taken, he said.
“The audacity,” he said, “in broad daylight. The violation of it and the nerve to do it during the day [shows a] total disregard for law and order.”
A police source told The Courier that the local precinct is patrolling the areas as needed to combat the city’s ongoing problem, and that numerous arrests have been made.
One of these was Richard Hobbs, 21, charged with petit larceny, criminal possession of stolen property and criminal mischief after he broke into a Honda at the intersection of Atlantic Avenue and 95th Street on March 18 through the passenger window and made off with a GPS.
In the meantime, police say, be aware of where you park your car, leave nothing of value in the vehicle, and be sure to remove the arm of the GPS system.