Thefts from autos increasing

University Police detectives are currently investigating a string of thefts from parked cars in a Penn lot on 33rd Street. Over the past 2 1/2 weeks, seven thefts from autos and one incident of vandalism have hit the University parking lot at 235 S. 33rd Street, between the Ringe Squash Courts and Franklin Field on the University's east side. All but one of the incidents occurred during daytime hours. According to University Police Deputy Chief of Investigations Tom King, the police department is now investigating possible sources of the rash of thefts. "We have noticed the trend," King said. "The vast majority are broken windows on cars with visible items inside." Most of the incidents have involved a perpetrator smashing a window and taking items like small amounts of cash, clothing and portable electronics -- including CD players and cellular phones -- from the vehicles. "There is no discernable pattern," King added. "It is almost exclusively wanderers who see something attractive inside a car and who then break a window." The most recent incident took place at around 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, when an unknown male smashed the driver's side window of a GMC Sierra truck while the owner was still inside it. The assailant removed a gym bag from the vehicle and fled down 33rd Street. The owner of the vehicle -- a man unaffiliated with the University -- was not hurt, and he later recovered the bag with all its contents still intact. One of the primary causes of the mini-spree, police say, may be the good job of enforcement being done by Philadelphia police officers in the areas just off campus. "The [Philadelphia Police Department's] 16th District -- north of Market Street -- was having a problem with this, especially near 30th Street Station," King said. "They have had some success reducing their problem, but I'm afraid that they have chased the doers to our area." King added that University police have begun increasing their patrols in the area.