UPDATE: According to police, the following bike thefts have been reported in the area since Sept. 24 in addition to the incident described below:

Sept. 24: 48th and Regent; 900 block of S. 46th St.
Sept. 26: 43rd and Sansom
Sept. 27: 200 block of S. 42nd; 200 block of S. 44th; 47th and Pine

A West Philly Local reader says that his two bicycles were stolen from his front porch on the 200 block of S. Melville Street in the early morning of Monday, Sept. 28. The whole incident was captured by a surveillance camera on the building (see image below). The stills from the video that we received show two young unidentified males checking out the bikes on the porch at 3:43 a.m. on Monday. The reader says that the video shows the same two men taking the bikes. The theft has been reported to the police.  Continue Reading

A neighbor reports that someone recently stole a license plate from her car parked near 44th and Pine. She didn’t notice until cops pulled her over the next day. Here’s what she wrote us:

“I’m not sure if this is happening elsewhere around the neighborhood, but my license plate was stolen off my vehicle [Tuesday] night (after 7 pm), while parked on the 4400 block of Pine. I found out when I was pulled over this morning, and had to visit the station to make a police report, and now get a new plate. It’s not a huge expense, but definitely a hassle just the same…”

This type of theft used to be really popular, but not so much anymore, according to police.

And here’s an example of why plates get stolen (from a Facebook post by one of our readers):

Police are still looking for the man who stole a bag filled with gold jewelry from a car parked near 52nd and Market Streets on September 2, at about 12:40 p.m. It was reported earlier this month that there was surveillance video of the incident, but the video wasn’t released until yesterday.

Southwest Detective Division is seeking public help in identifying and locating the person seen in the video who, police say, smashed the front passenger side window with a hammer, took a blue duffel bag with various gold jewelry items, worth approximately $66,000 (previously, it was reported that the value of the stolen jewelry was over $100,000), and fled on a bicycle.

The 74-year-old owner of the bag parked his car and went to the nearby Cash For Gold store to conduct some business, according to police. He was at the store for about 5 minutes, during which the theft took place.

If you have any information about the suspect, please contact Southwest Detective Division at 215-686-3183/3184.

Here’s the video:

Police are investigating a theft from a car parked near 52nd and Market that left the owner, a 74-year-old man, short of about $140,000 worth of gold jewelry.

The incident happened at around 12:15 p.m. on Tuesday when the man parked his car, a Lexus SUV, and went to the nearby Cash for Gold store. He left a duffel bag inside his vehicle containing approximately $140,000 worth of various jewelry items, including rings, necklaces, bracelets and earrings, according to police.

The man told police that he was inside the store for about 5 minutes. When he returned to his car he noticed that the front passenger side window was smashed and the bag with jewelry was gone.

Police are searching for the male theft suspect, who was riding a mountain bike. Witnesses told police that the man broke the car window with a hammer and took the bag. Police say they have surveillance video of the incident from a nearby store and that the investigation continues. We’ll update when we have more information.

A reader’s husband had his iPhone stolen on Tuesday, April 1. Thanks to phone tracking, they knew where it was. They tried to get the police to go after it. The police didn’t seem interested. Is this a case of “Big city, a lot of crime” or a missed opportunity? Read the letter below and a response from a West Philly police officer.

If West Philly police want to stop crime, why do they take it so lightly?

My husband’s iPhone was stolen last night. This morning, the thief called one of the contacts in the phone book on the phone, someone who happens to live nearby. Our friend took the bait to buy it back trying to be helpful. In a park at 48th & Lancaster, he gave the guy $20. The guy threw him just the case and ran away. Our friend came to our house at 5am today to tell us the story. We tracked the phone on “find my iPhone”. Seeing it still at the same park, but starting to move down 48th St, we called 911. When asked what to expect, they said an officer will call us within an hour to take a report. I pointed out that we knew where a thief was located at this minute. I was given attitude, “It’s just a stolen phone, ma’am.” I pointed out that I am the one trying to be helpful if police want to affect crime in the area. The 911 operator backed down a bit and said that it’s not how it works. Police do not go retrieve stolen phones. They will take our statement for our insurance purposes.

I know it is just a phone. But really!? We received the same attitude after a break-in to our house in 2005 – “here is the statement for your insurance”. As for the phone, we locked it, so he had no choice but to call us and try to sell it back, stating he just purchased it on 46th & Market, but that is silly, as we were tracking it. Even if I played along, I did not feel comfortable for either of us to meet him. I offered him a chance to be a nice person and leave it at a business for us, but I guess he’ll sell it somewhere and we will buy a new one.

Seems like a missed opportunity by the police to me. Should we do something different next time?

Here’s a response from officer Joe Murray from the Southwest Police Detectives.

The only thing I’ll refute is that we definitely don’t take crime lightly. This is the dispatcher’s fault and we would obviously love to track the phone. They have every right to feel outraged.

The only thing I’d do differently is drive right to the district or Southwest Detectives and tell a cop directly. It’s happened before and we’ve gone out and recovered the phone.

UPDATE: Yesterday, the University City District released a crime alert warning residents about airbag thefts. The report states that airbag theft is on the rise in University City, with 45 break-ins in the last month alone.

Earlier report (Friday, Oct. 11): A reader who lives near Melville and Locust streets reports that his car was broken into at about 7:30 p.m. last night and his driver’s side airbag was stolen. A string of airbag thefts took place in that area over the summer, according to police.

Airbag thefts in the city continue to be a problem, police said, adding that there are more than a dozen open cases in the Spruce Hill area alone. Hondas seem to be a particular target, police said, a sentiment that is echoed in this ABC6 report on a rash of airbag thefts in Center City in March.

Sometimes a steering wheel locking device, like a Club, will make the airbag harder to get to and deter thieves. Some new, beefed-up steering wheel locks also include devices that protect the airbag. Airbags can cost as much as $1,000 to replace and some unscrupulous repair shops will use stolen bags and charge for new ones.