Thieves Smashing Unattended, Locked Cars to get Backpacks, Police Say

Twice on one day in North Kingstown recently, people who left their cars locked while enjoying the summer weather and North Kingstown’s amenities came back to smashed windows and stolen items.

On Aug. 18, police responded to the Rolling Greens Golf Course at 1625 Ten Rod Road at around 2:25 p.m. for a report of a larceny from a car.

At the scene, police saw a car with a smashed window and the victim said the suspect or suspects stole a black North Face backpack that was inside.

The backpack contained a pair of sunglasses, clothes and contact lenses.

Less than an hour later, officers were dispatched to the Chafee Preserve at Rome Point where someone had smashed another car window to steal a Spiderman backpack belonging to a child.

The woman who reported the crime said she was talking a walk with her children and came back to find the damage and theft.

The suspect made off with a Leapster game console and about 20 game cartridges as well as some Matchbox cars and two pairs of swim goggles.

Police noted that both breaks occurred in unattended parking lots and both cars were locked, but the backpacks were visible by peering through the windows.

Police routinely respond to parking lots for similar types of smash-and-grab thefts, which are especially common here and in other southern Rhode Island communities with numerous walking trails, nature preserves, wildlife refuges and coastal lookouts that often feature secluded or quiet parking areas.

It was unclear what tool was used to break the windows, though police noted in a report that the vehicles, a Mercedes and Volvo SUV, were “high end” and likely targeted because of it.

Aside from the backpacks being stolen, the thieves did not make any other effort to enter the cars and they were not rummaged through, police said.

Police are investigating.