Several cars broken into near Woodside Avenue; woman arrested

Staff illustration

Staff illustration

A 36-year-old woman from Springfield was arrested Friday morning after reports that several vehicles parked on Woodside Avenue and nearby streets were broken into.

Officers with the Springfield Police Division were told that two people were driving around the area in a silver Nissan Altima and someone was getting out of that car to search through other vehicles.

A witness told officers that he saw one of the suspects get into four different vehicles before going east on Woodside Avenue and then south on Burnett Road.

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When officers arrived at the scene and turned west off of Burnett Road and onto Beatrice Street, they observed two separate vehicles with lights on as if the doors were open, according to the police report. A silver Nissan Altima was spotted in the 2500 block of Beatrice Street and a woman was reported inside.

A book bag and several jackets were found in the backseat of the vehicle and the woman was questioned by officers. She initially said that she came to the area with her boyfriend and that he had left to go to a house to “buy drugs,” according to the police report.

The woman said that her boyfriend had been gone for 20 minutes. When further questioned, she said she was in the area where several vehicles were reportedly broken into. She said the her boyfriend was the one going into the vehicles but initially stated that she did not see him take anything.

When questioned about the items in the backseat, the woman said that she saw her boyfriend take several articles of clothing out of a vehicle on Beatrice Street. She said she did not know of anything else that was taken, according to the report.

She stated that the book bag was her boyfirend’s and the Nissim Altima they were driving was purchased by her boyfriend for $7,500.

One of the officers noted that a 2019 Nissim Altima was reported stolen several weeks ago and began questioning the woman regarding the vehicle.

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In response to the woman saying that her boyfriend had purchased the vehicle for a low amount of money, one of the officer’s asked if she really thought you can purchase a brand new car for $7,500. She replied she didn’t know about cars or their worth. Officers later confirmed that the vehicle was reported stolen.

The woman confirmed that she and her boyfriend had driven to Woodside Avenue and that the boyfriend had gone through several cars.

The book bag and the articles of clothing were confirmed to be stolen and were identified by its owners, according to the police report.

The woman was arrested and was taken in for further questioning. She was charged with receiving stolen property, a first-degree misdemeanor, and receiving stolen property, a fourth-degree felony.