Rocky Branch car break-in foiled by U.S. Forest Service

Today I went on an AMC hike to Isolation via the Rocky Branch trail. When we got back to the trailhead there were two U.S. Forest Service rangers there. During the day our trip leader's car was broken into - front passenger side window smashed in. The good news was that apparently the rangers had been following the guy that did it, and watching him, because they caught him in the act. I was pretty impressed that they not only caught him, but then they came back to the trailhead later in the day to wait for us to come out. Without these rangers, I'm pretty sure that all of our cars would have ended up with smashed windows.

They were even nice enough after the break-in to put some plastic over the broken car window. Good job, Forest Service!

Just another reminder to secure all your valuables....

Wow, mixed emotions over this.. angry but glad it worked out the way it did. Thanks for the heads up Bobert.

Awesome, we can only hope that this person was the cause of a lot of the break ins, or that his arrest curtails others. Should be a tough year for some with the economy.

Somewhere Tim Seaver will be singing Christmas songs early...

I'm glad they finally caught someone. I also second the wondering about whether this person(s) were responsible for other break ins

BobC said:

They were even nice enough after the break-in to put some plastic over the broken car window. Good job, Forest Service!

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That lot has broken glass in it so often that I hate to park there

If you got any of their names I'd send them a thank-you e-mail

Unfortunately, for this type of crime, the relatively low risk of capture and small penalty means that this person will probably be back to his old ways in no time. Hiker cars are easy pickings.

These breakins have been going on too long without anyone caught. Glad they got one perp. Who knows if others in the region do this.

Sept.07 I ran across a breakin at Glen Ellis Falls lot and reported it to Pinkham. Felt sort of useless after the fact.

'Bout time.

The RBT lot is particularly vulnerable because it is hidden from the highway, but then again, the 19MBT gets hit a lot and it is right on the highway.

Kudos to the USFS on this one.

A story was posted in the Conway Sun tonight (www.mountwashingtonvalley.com) stating that a Berlin, NH man was being charged with fourteen counts of breaking and entering as a result of a series of incidents along Routes 16 and 302 in the Jackson, Albany areas. The story states that after he was arrested a search of the suspect's home uncovered other stolen merchandise.

I am making an assumption that this is the individual arrested at the Rocky Branch trailhead. If so, and you have had your car broken into recently and items were stolen, it might be worth a call to the Tamworth NHSP office to determine if the items turned up in the search.

I couldn't access the above report but this if from WMUR

This could be the guy. I'm assuming the Rocky Branch trailhead is in Jackson...?

http://berlindailysun.com/ Here is a link to an article with a bit more information. After today (tuesday 11/25) you will need to go into their archive and pull up todays paper.

This person appeared to cover a wide area, jackson, albany and tamworth and up into Coos county. I expect that the limited number of charges is only the tip of the iceberg.

A very important comment near the end of the article is that the investigation is still open, if anyone had a break in during the last year, here is your chance.

Good news indeed.

THESE PEOPLE MAKE ME SICK

It's a shame sometimes they don't "stone" people anymore.

This is great news. Hopefully this guy was the main source of the break-ins and his capture can give some hikers peace of mind about leaving their cars at trailheads. Still, it's good to practice not leaving anything valuable in plain sight and being mindful of broken glass in parking lots.

ColdRiverRun said:

It's a shame sometimes they don't "stone" people anymore.

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We could flame their email.

But seriously, it is very good news.

Over the years the pattern has been one person (or group) has done a majority of the breakins with sporadic incidences usually traced to adolescents. Given the wide geographic range of this person, I expect things will be quiet for awhile. Of course there will always be crimes of opportunity, where valuables are left out in sight at a remote trailhead. With that in mind, a NH news report this AM reported that car GPS systems were a very popular car breakin item this year. Therefore its probably a good idea to keep them or any of the mounting hardware out of sight when parked.

I not only keep the GPS and mounting hardware out of sight, I wipe off the inside of the windshield so there's no sign of that suction-cup mark. I've heard that when thieves see that they know there's usually a GPS unit stashed somewhere inside the car.