by KYW's John McDevitt
Thefts of property from inside automobiles are up considerably in areas of Philadelphia from this time last year; portable GPS systems are a big target.
Captain Jack McGinnis is with Northeast Detective division:
"Theft from autos citywide are up and they are particularly up in the Northeast. We are up over 50% from last year in thefts from autos."
Captain McGinnis says keep property out of site:
"they break out the window, they just lean in the car, they take what they want and they are gone. They can have the whole thing done in less than five seconds. The reason they picked your car to break into is because you left things visible in the car. Nobody in the city should leave anything visible in their car."
Police arrested a 19-year-old Port Richmond on Thursday and charged him with 13 counts of thefts from auto and related offenses.
The alleged thefts took place in the Franklin Mills Mall area from February 7th to March 9th. Police say he may face additional charges:
"We don't believe he only did 13."
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