Sunday, April 06, 2025

Another theft inside Westbard Square garage in Bethesda


Thieves have struck again inside the parking garage at Westbard Square in Bethesda. Montgomery County police were called to the garage in the 5300 block of Zenith Overlook at 1:37 PM on Thursday, April 3, 2025. The victim reported property having been stolen from inside their vehicle. That follows the m.o. of those engaged in preying on vehicles in the garage, who seem to favor the afternoon for many of their crimes.

The latest theft came only two days after the last one. It was also the twelfth time police were called about a theft from a vehicle inside this garage since February 10. To date, we have not seen any surveillance camera footage showing any of the suspects in these cases being released to the public.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

The garage design makes for easy targets.

Anonymous said...

Why not just lock your doors when running to Starbucks? Wouldn't this solve the problem. Rich folks are not always the smartest.

Anonymous said...

Why is the footage of the perps being withheld? If it’s members of families living off River Rd or the Whitman district taking advantage of poor shoppers, or whoever it is, let’s shame and publicize them!

JAC said...

And how many parking lot thefts were three over the 40 plus years the original center was there and thriving? In recent years, I sure don't recall a report of any. The entire redesign looks awful and clearly a daily crime scene. Let's bulldoze and go back to the original center layout.

Robert Dyer said...

6:45: That can be a issue in this type of crime, but my understanding is that some of the vehicles have been broken into. Is it because something of value was visible inside, as police often remind the public to avoid? We don't know any of the specifics, because no details about the garage incidents have been made public since it opened.

Anonymous said...

Lol

Anonymous said...

I second the motion! The current redesign is an abomination.

Anonymous said...

Bulldoze and rebuild! What a great idea JAC. You’re stuck in the past.

Anonymous said...

Isn't there a great 1974 Charles Bronson movie theme that would assess, then take care of this?

Anonymous said...

Sign:
76
195
FULL
Of Thugs!

Anonymous said...

Reimagine it to be one Giant© bowling alley!

Anonymous said...

We have parked in that garage several times without incident. We were lucky not to be attacked or robbed, it seems. Sad. We won't be going back to what was our new favorite Tatte location. IMO, it's not the fault of the garage design . Might as well blame the cars for deciding to park there.

Robert Dyer said...

6:11: For the record, no one has been attacked or robbed in the garage. There was a shooting in the street near the bowling alley about 9 days ago. Beyond that, what we are talking about is a spike in thefts from vehicles parked in the garage.

Anonymous said...

I shop at the Westbard Giant weekly. I've only seen security once and have looked for cameras but have only found one sign saying that cameras exist. What I regularly experience are speeders in the garage. It's interesting that the thefts are occurring in such an active space. Regency needs to employ full time security staff and needs to turn on those cameras - if they truly exist.

JAC said...

2:09 - No, I just liked the old center better though it was in need of a refresh. I don't like what they've done at all

Anonymous said...

Robert- I thought I had read there was a strong arm robbery there.🤷‍♀️

Robert Dyer said...

1:41: There was on that block, but not necessarily inside the garage.

Anonymous said...

I no longer shop at Giant and neither should you! There is wonderful and abundant street-level parking at the Sangamore SAFEWAY, with great values to stretch the family-food-dollar too!!

Anonymous said...

Better dog food selection too!