Video shows violent car break-ins in Silver Spring
SILVER SPRING, Md. - Police in Montgomery County are searching for four suspects who they say broke into 21 vehicles in Silver Spring.
The thefts took place at approximately 2:30 a.m. Monday, December 2, officials said. All were in the area of Belvedere Boulevard, Woodland Road, Dameron Drive, Forest Grove Drive and Forest Glen Road.
Investigators released surveillance footage of one of the break-ins Monday. The video shows two of the four suspects breaking into a vehicle parked in a driveway, while another suspect acted as a lookout, and the final suspect appears to point a handgun towards the apparent victim’s house.
"It is alarming, the fact that one of these suspects decided not only to bring a firearm to commit this crime but also to use it," explained Montgomery County Police Ofc. Carlos Cortes.
"It’s frightening," Jim Sandiford said while watching the footage. He told Fox 5 that one of the 21 vehicles that were broken into belongs to him. He said the thieves smashed a window but did not end up finding anything of value inside the car.
22 vehicles broken into in Downtown Silver Spring
Police are investigating after about 22 cars were broken into in a Downtown Silver Spring parking garage.
Another Silver Spring resident, Andrew Ricci, said that his car was broken into in October.
"That’s the scariest thing for me," Ricci said of the gun in the footage released by police Monday. "What would happen to my kids, my family?"
In Ricci’s case, he said the thieves smashed his car’s window, stole an airbag, and stole his three-month-old’s diaper bag. He’s since upgraded the camera on the front of his house and put a Club-like security device on his car’s steering wheel as well.
"It’s just kind of alarming that this can happen to me, to anybody, and that it’s happened so many times, and it’s still happening," Ricci said.
Montgomery County investigators are asking anyone with information regarding the most recent break-ins to visit the Crime Solvers of Montgomery County, MD website at www.crimesolversmcmd.org and click on the "www.p3tips.com" link at the top of the page or call 1-866-411-8477.
Check out the surveillance video below: