SALISBURY, Md. -- An uptick in car break-ins around the holidays is not uncommon. The Salisbury Police Department even issued a warning this month as police were dealing with more instances of the crime.
Just a few days ago, in the wee morning hours of December 27th, Sean Maloney's grey Honda was parked, safe from danger on the typically quiet Alvin Avenue. At least, that's what Maloney believed.
"Salisbury Police Department on the job, knocking on the door5 o'clock in the morning, [told me] somebody broke into my car right under the street light right out in front of the house, busted the passenger window out," said Maloney.
Salisbury police believe 21-year-old Don Jules is responsible. Jules was arrested on December 27th and transported to the Salisbury Police Department. There, police found that Jules had warrants through the District Court, making it illegal for him to carry a gun.
Jules was then released to the Wicomico County Detention Center to be seen by a District Court Commissioner.
Jules is facing up to six charges, including possession of a regulated firearm while prohibited, handgun on person, discharging a firearm within city limits, theft, rogue and vagabond and reckless endangerment.
According to police, Jules began his night on Richwil Drive, where he allegedly fired a gun into the air several times while attempting to break into a car.
Police reported Jules then made his way over to Alvin Avenue and Glen Avenue, where he smashed car windows, rummaged through glove departments and gave neighbors quite the holiday headache.
"People's time to fix the problem, clean out their cars, get it to the shop," said Maloney. "Depending upon the amount of damage, go jump through hoops with the insurance company."
Maloney said he was able to get his window fixed on the same day as the incident but told us roughly eight to 10 of his neighbors also reported car break-ins.
"If they don't get the window right away, now they got to put plastic in the window, the car gets rained in," said Maloney. "It's just a myriad of things that now you have to address because some knucklehead has busted the window out of your car."
Sarah Griffiths and her family were away from home during the break-ins, but now that they're back, Griffiths said they will look to make some home upgrades.
"Definitely planning on putting more cameras up around the house, something in the driveway maybe just so we can see," said Griffiths.
Despite recent warnings of an uptick in car break-ins, Salisbury police told us that overall, the crime was actually down in 2024. This year, there were 195 reported car break-ins in the city, a slight decline from the 242 in 2023.
