Mt. Washington struggles with rise in car break-ins

After someone broke into Emily Shaheen’s Chevrolet Spark outside her Mt. Washington apartment around Thanksgiving, the marketing director and Point Park University alumnus didn’t fret much. After all, they mostly just scored some loose change.

“I didn’t even bother going to the police because there was nothing they were going to do about it,” Shaheen said. “It’s like a daily occurrence, especially in Mt. Washington … Some people say it’s teenagers. Some people say it’s drug users. But you don’t know.”

Mt. Washington is experiencing a spate of theft headaches.

There were 55 thefts from vehicles and 22 car thefts from May through November this year in the Pittsburgh neighborhood, police said. Some residents tracking criminal activity with their doorbell cameras say even those numbers are low.

“Police are aware of the concerns of Mt. Washington residents and are working to mitigate the problem. This includes deploying specialized details to specifically prevent these types of thefts,” Pittsburgh police spokesperson Amanda Mueller said. “Communication is key. We ask that if anyone has a theft from their vehicle, no matter how seemingly insignificant, they call police so a report can be made.”

Mueller said police have arrested one juvenile “numerous times for multiple thefts in the Mt. Washington area.” The bureau also continues to look into the problem with a broader lens; Mt. Washington isn’t the only neighborhood troubled by thefts from vehicles.

But some say more needs to be done.

Amanda Olmstead’s car was stolen on Paul Street in Mt. Washington in mid-September, after the college instructor accidentally left her computer in it overnight. Before crashing the vehicle a half-mile away at the intersection of Southern Avenue and Natchez Street, the person who broke into the Kia took a Macbook Pro laptop, and Olmstead’s wallet and keys.

She saw it all on her doorbell camera.

“One of these kids got into my car and was in it for about 10 minutes before he drove off,” Olmstead said.

That camera spotted the same teen walking near Olmstead’s house days later.

“It was really clear they didn’t care — they were just walking down the street,” she said. “I wanted something to happen with this … I feel vindictive when I say, ‘Throw these kids in jail!’ but I feel some action needs to be taken.”

Despite Olmstead sharing the video footage with police, no arrests were made.

Resident Paul Whiteside is watching.

Whiteside is part of the community watch group Neighbors on the Mount, and sees residents post about thefts on the group’s busy Facebook page, which boasts nearly 6,000 followers.

“It has been a major issue in this neighborhood … there’s constantly posts on there about break-ins,” Whiteside said. “This year was definitely the worst it’s been in many years — it seems like almost a daily event.”

Pittsburgh City Council president Theresa Kail Smith, who represents Mt. Washington on the governing body, also is paying attention. When people come to her, she reminds them to engage the police, no matter how small or minor the incident might seem.

“I think the police are trying to do the best they can, but they need help,” she told the Tribune-Review.

Kail Smith said the just-approved city budget pays for more police officers, including new classes of recruits, to take to city streets. But that’s not enough.

“I think it’s a combination of all of us — [police] numbers are dangerously low and someone’s going to get hurt,” she said. “I have a huge concern about the staffing issue. We all need to get our act together and put more officers in the zones and on the streets.”

Daria Newsom also didn’t call the police when someone broke into her Subaru Impreza during the week of Dec. 12.

“There was some change, sitting in the front for tolls and things, and they took CDs, maybe,” Newsom said. “The biggest thing that annoyed me is they took my emergency Excedrin!”

But Newsom, too, had doorbell camera footage of someone opening her front gate and walking over to her car in the driveway.

“I was just surprised they had the audacity to go into the yard and do it — the house is right there,” said Newsom, a retired medical biller and coder who has lived in Mt. Washington for 49 years. “I’m surprised nothing’s been done about it — but I know there are more important things.”