SILVER SPRING, MD – Montgomery County police say they have arrested a 19-year-old man accused of breaking into more than 50 cars and causing nearly $20,000 in damage at parking decks in downtown Silver Spring.
Investigators identified the suspect as Xavier Turner. Police said the break-ins happened across three garages on Wayne Avenue, Cameron Street and Ellsworth Drive, where smashed windows and stolen small items left many vehicles damaged even when nothing valuable was taken.
Commander Jason Cokinos of the Montgomery County Police Department’s Third District said the case showed how one person can create widespread damage in a short period of time.
Police say three downtown garages were targeted despite lights and cameras
The parking decks involved in the case are in a busy part of downtown Silver Spring and are equipped with bright lighting and surveillance cameras. Police said that did not stop the suspect from repeatedly striking parked cars.
According to investigators, Turner was seen in edited video released by Montgomery County police smashing windows and reaching into vehicles. The items taken were often minor, including change, sunglasses and credit cards, but the broken glass and damaged vehicles left a larger bill behind.
Cokinos said the real harm was not just what was stolen. In many cases, the damage to the vehicles themselves was the bigger problem for owners who had to deal with broken windows and cleanup.
Crime analysts spotted a pattern before officers moved in
Police said the investigation began when crime analysts noticed a repeating pattern in car break-in reports from the garages. That led investigators to review video from the parking decks and piece together how the thefts were happening.
After that review, police put patrol officers from the midnight shift into the garages in a more targeted way. Cokinos said that one night in July, officers heard the sound of glass breaking and quickly focused on the area where the suspect was believed to be working.
The tactic gave officers a chance to respond while the break-ins were still happening rather than after the fact, which police said helped them close in on the suspect.
Officers sealed the exits and caught the suspect in a stairwell
Once officers realized what was unfolding, they shut down all of the garage exits and waited for the suspect to come down the stairwell. Police said Turner then walked directly into the hands of an officer who was positioned to arrest him.
Montgomery County police described the capture as the result of timing, coordination and a focused deployment of officers after the pattern of crimes became clear. The department said the arrest came after months of investigating the string of break-ins.
The video released by police shows the man they believe is Turner moving through the garage and then being taken into custody after the exits were sealed off.
Investigators believe Turner acted alone and had prior arrests
Police said they believe Turner was working alone. Cokinos also said detectives were already familiar with him because he had been arrested before.
The department did not say in the video release what specific prior cases were involved, but police made clear that the suspect was not unknown to investigators when the new pattern of break-ins emerged. That familiarity helped detectives connect the garage thefts to a person they had encountered previously.
Police said they had also arrested another person a few months earlier in connection with a separate string of similar parking garage break-ins. Officials said both arrests have since been followed by a sharp drop in these types of crimes.
Police say garage car thefts are down as the investigation continues
Montgomery County police said car thefts in garages are down by double digits this year, and commanders credited the arrests with helping push those numbers lower. Cokinos said the department wants that trend to continue in Silver Spring.
He said the message to anyone thinking about committing similar crimes is that police are paying attention and will respond quickly when patterns emerge. The department says the recent arrests have made the downtown garages less attractive targets for repeat break-ins.
For vehicle owners, the case underscores how a burglary that appears minor at first can still leave behind expensive repairs, shattered glass and the loss of personal items. Police say the investigation and arrests are meant to prevent that kind of damage from continuing.
