Car break-ins a pain in the glass

Hamden (WTNH) - A rise in car break-ins may be bad news for most of us, but it's a boon for those in the business of replacing broken auto glass.

Talk about your rude awakenings when Charise Trotman of Hamden used her remote starter to start the car, the thief went running, leaving her daughter's Acura in a shambles.

"The tires was flat and the windshield was broken."

And it's not the first time.

"Someone stole her radio, CD player her bank card inside stole that."

The Elm city has seen a 51 percent increase in car break-ins last year. Police point to the sagging economy as the cause, but the uptick has business booming at glass repair shops like Payless Auto Glass on Dixwell Avenue.

"For us I would say probably 70 percent," said Doug Knapp, "mostly all tempered parts which would be door glasses and windows."

Doug says they repaired 150 windows last month.

Replacing just one window could cost you more than a hundred dollars, so protect yourself. When you leave your car, take all your valuables with you and "before you go, take your GPS unit and your mount," Knapp said.

Last September, New Haven police handed out courtesy tickets reminding folks of just that. That's a ticket Cherise wouldn't have minded.

"No iPods plugged in, no GPS systems," Trotman said, "because I also think that's what they might have been trying to get, because the mount for the GPS system was in the window. I just hope it don't happen again."

Especially since it cost almost $500 to repair all the damage to her daughter's car.