Rochester neighborhood sees uptick in vehicle, garage thefts over weekend

Vehicle and Garage Thefts in Slatterly Park

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(ABC 6 News) – Over the weekend, residents across Rochester’s Slatterly Park neighborhood woke up to break-ins in both their cars and garages.

While police don’t have any suspects, neighbors are coming together to try to find those responsible.

Residents of the neighborhood have said they can only really get help from police if they have video footage or additional evidence for them to go off of. Since not everyone in the neighborhood has cameras at their door, neighbors shared footage of these crimes.

“Every now and then you go through a period where that seems to happen in the neighborhood,” said Mark Bilderback, a 35-year resident of Slatterly Park.

People in Slatterly Park have seen robberies in the early morning hours over the last week. Perpetrators are checking for unlocked car and garage doors and stealing valuables left inside.

Bilderback has lived in Slatterly Park for more than 35 years, and is happy to see an increase in cameras in the neighborhood.

“The fact is anything that helps us make the neigborhood safer is a good thing. Putting locks on your garage doors and locking your stuff up is good. Taking any valuables out of your car is good,” he said.

“We know it’s been a running issue across Rochester over the last couple of years,” added Naren Hulsign, treasurer of the Slatterly Park Neighborhood Association. “We have been talking with the Rochester Police Department about other kinds of neighborhood safety issues.”

The issue has warranted enough concern for neighbors to organize and keep track of activities together. Neighbors such as Autumn Jahnke, who recently had windows busted out on her vehicles.

“Our plan with our neighbors is that we’re just going to put up more security cameras and things like that. It’s really kind of a shame because that doesn’t happen super often,” said Jahnke.

Residents hope the added surveillance and communication will halt criminals from coming to Slatterly Park.

“While it may not dissuade all crimes, because I know I have had porch piracy, it does help the police a lot when you have documentation turned over,” said Hulsign.

The Slatterly Park Neighborhood Association will be addressing these break-ins during their next meeting, until then, they’re hopeful the increased surveillance will help the decline of robberies.