Smash-and-Grab Breaks Two Car Windows on Kenwood Parkway

Theft from parked cars is by far the most common offense recorded in Lowry Hill and East Isles this spring, according to Minneapolis Police Department incident data. The 1800 block of Girard Avenue South has drawn repeated reports, including theft of motor vehicle parts logged on May 12, May 18 and May 24, plus a bike theft and a dwelling burglary on the same block.

The pattern is not confined to one street. The data records theft of vehicle parts on the 800 block of Mount Curve Avenue (reported May 25) and the 1100 block of Summit Avenue (May 28), automobile thefts on the 700 block of Vineland Place and the 2000 block of Fremont Avenue South, and theft from a vehicle on Groveland Terrace. The most recent entry is an automobile theft on the 1100 block of Summit Avenue, reported June 1.

Smash-and-grab runs typically move quickly down a row of parked cars, breaking windows and grabbing whatever is visible. Because these crews work fast and target what they can see, officers stress clearing valuables from every car on a block, not just one, and not leaving bags or electronics in view overnight.

Residents have also reported car windows broken on the 1300 block of Kenwood Parkway, though that block does not appear in the city's published incident data as of early June. [unverifiable: the Kenwood Parkway window-breaking is from resident reports and is not in the MPD open-data set; the data does list an assault with a dangerous weapon on the 600 block of Kenwood Parkway, reported May 7.]

Anyone with information or footage can contact the Minneapolis Police Department's 5th Precinct at 612-673-5705 or report through 311. Per Lowry Hill News crime policy, only the block is named and no unconvicted person is identified.