Dubai: Around 50 cars in Al Qusais were broken into but hardly any valuables were stolen in an overnight crime wave last week, police said.
Car owners woke up last Thursday to discover that the vehicles’ rear windows had been smashed overnight.
But virtually no items of value, such as sound systems, had been taken. Instead, paperwork and belongings in the cars had been left scattered about.
Police were already on the scene when some motorists showed up in the parking lots, not far from Dubai Grand Hotel in Al Qusais 1.
“Between 45 to 54 cars parked in various parts of the Al Qusais 1 area have been found vandalised, with their rear glass window broken, but the vehicle documents like registration or insurance papers were not stolen. Not even the car audio systems from any car were stolen. Documents kept in the vehicles were left scattered around,” an official from Al Qusais police station told Gulf News.
Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officials have taken fingerprints and other evidence from the sites.
“I live near Dubai Grand Hotel in Al Qusais 1. When I was going to work on Thursday morning I was surprised to see a few policemen standing near my car. I was not aware of what was going on,” one victim said.
He added it seemed other victims reported the incidents to police.
“I was informed by police that my car was broken into and I was asked to follow to Al Qusais police station to take my statement. Other people who have their cars broken into were standing near their cars in the next building.
“Under my building, only my car was damaged and I saw also another car broken in the opposite building.”
A police source said that the same kind of damage was inflicted on every car involved.
“The rear window was broken in each car, the suspects unlocked the car from inside and got in the car after they unlocked it,” the police source said.
Another victim said nothing was taken from the car but “everything inside the car was left scattered on the seats.”
The victim confirmed the incident happened on Wednesday night. “We received a call from the CID on Monday who said they will contact all victims soon for more investigations,” said another victim.
One man said while he was about to go to work he saw two policemen beside his car taking finger prints. “Police explained to me that someone had broken into more than 52 cars in our area,” he said.
Police said the vehicles were parked under different buildings in Al Qusais 1. Many victims gathered last Thursday morning at Al Qusais police station.
Most of the victims in the Al Qusais vandalism incident said they did not lose valuables items left in their cars.
