Bus parking lot a bonanza for thieves

"I hate to put it this way, but a lot of it is their own fault because they leave the stuff in the vehicle," says Lt. David Schiavulli.

01:00 AM EST on Wednesday, January 11, 2006

BY GREGORY SMITH
Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE -- Driving to the Bonanza bus terminal and leaving a car in the parking lot has been a gamble for a lot of people.
They just didn't know it.

Through the first eight months of 2005, 30 cars were reported stolen from the lot and 19 more were broken into.

"These numbers are extremely high for one business location in the city of Providence," said police Lt. David Schiavulli, commander of District 8. "It was crazy."
The police and Bonanza Bus Lines officials are now working together to make parking a less dicey proposition. At the urging of the police, Bonanza has erected a fence topped with barbed wire around two-thirds of the lot and has improved the lighting.
Other plans will mean the end of free parking.

The company intends to install electronic gates and to station an attendant around the clock at the lot, and to begin charging for parking to cover its costs.
Until now, the pickings have been easy for car thieves, according to Schiavulli. They could slip into and out of the lot through surrounding woods or merely walk in the main driveway.

"They know that these people are going to be away for a day, or two, or three" and that a theft won't be noticed for a while, Schiavulli said. Aside from the cars themselves, the thieves are mostly interested in stealing stereo systems and radios.
"Those are just the reported ones," he said of the statistics that he developed. "A lot of people don't even report a larceny from the auto because they don't have insurance."

Despite stepped-up police patrols, Schiavulli said last month, the thefts have continued, albeit at a slower rate, since he stopped compiling statistics as of Aug. 28. Marked police cars cruise in and out as a deterrent, and undercover police have been posted in the lot.
"Any cars assigned to that area are being told to make as many passes as they can in their tour of duty," Schiavulli said. "We're giving it as much attention as we can."
Not only has the lot been a magnet for thieves looking to steal a car, he noted, it has been a spot to dump a stolen car, too.

On the weekend of Dec. 11 and Dec. 12, for example, a car was reported stolen and two more were broken into. Another stolen car was recovered.

"People leave laptops in the front seat, pocketbooks in the front seat, leather coats in the back seat," Schiavulli said. "People have to learn to leave their valuables in the trunk, out of sight. I hate to put it this way, but a lot of it is their own fault because they leave the stuff in the vehicle."

Some of the losses occur because a door has been left unlocked, though if the doors are locked, the thieves break a window, he said. The thefts have not been concentrated at any particular time of day.

Bonanza has had a surveillance camera but its picture is not clear enough to identify any culprits and its field of view did not take in the tree line, according to the police. Most of the losses in Schiavulli's compilation involved cars parked near the woods' edge.

The police came close to catching one of the thieves on Sept. 4, when a man returned with a Jeep that he had stolen from the lot two days earlier. The owner's husband had taken a bus and nobody knew that the vehicle was gone.
The thief "was probably going to break into some cars, using that vehicle," Schiavulli said.

It was 1:15 a.m., and two officers were watching.

The Jeep circled the lot and the driver got out, they reported later. He tried the door handles on three or four cars, and when the officers approached, he jumped back into the Jeep and hastily drove out of the lot.

They chased him to Evergreen Street, about 12 blocks from the terminal, and the man "bailed" out of the Jeep while it was still in drive, according to the police.
The vehicle rolled down the street and smacked heavily into a utility pole in front of 14 Evergreen, causing several wires to fall.

"Our surveillance did work to a point, but unfortunately the apprehension was not able to be made," Schiavulli said. "I don't think he'll be back."

The lieutenant sent a letter to Bonanza Bus Lines about the crime problem, recommending specific remedies, including the installation of a fence 6 feet to 7 feet high, better lighting, electronic gates and a ticketing system for entry and exit, and a highly visible, roving security guard.

"We have their attention now," Schiavulli said. But even with safeguards, he cautioned, the thefts will not be eliminated.

"The problem was more severe than we knew," said Charles Bradshaw, Bonanza safety manager. Theives "will always take the path of least resistance."
The nearly 16-year-old bus terminal has a lot that can accommodate 250 cars. Customers come from throughout the region to the terminal, off Exit 25A from Route 95 north and Exit 25 from Route 95 south. Bonanza runs a free shuttle downtown to Kennedy Plaza.

In addition to Bonanza and its parent company, Peter Pan Bus Lines, of Springfield, Mass., some tour bus companies use the lot as a staging area.
Given the free parking, people have been in the habit of leaving their cars there for weeks or even months at a time.

A Mercedes-Benz, for example, protected by a canvas cover pulled taut with cords, is in the lot now. Bradshaw said it seems as if the owner intends to leave it there for the winter.

"We get a lot of [stolen car] dropoffs here, too," Bradshaw acknowledged. "So maybe we can put an end to that as well" with the security upgrades.
If a car has the appropriate registration plates on it, or if it has not been reported stolen, there is nothing the police can do even if the auto has been there for two months or more, Schiavulli said.

To bolster security, Bonanza has cut back trees and underbrush by about six feet around the lot, installed a 6-foot-high fence with barbed wire around two-thirds of the lot, added lamps to the poles that carry floodlights, and installed more poles with lights.

Bradshaw would not discuss the surveillance camera and if the company plans to upgrade it.

However, Bonanza has been in negotiation with a company to manage the lot and to have a 24-hour attendant on duty. Bradshaw said yesterday that entry and exit gates and an attendant's booth are expected to be constructed next month.
When the installation is complete, Bonanza will begin offering to escort passengers from their bus to their car at night, although it is only a short distance. Either a minivan or a golf cart would be used, Bradshaw said.

The fees will be less than those to park at the airport in Warwick or the train station in Providence, he said, and will be scaled according to use. There will be one charge for commuter parking, one for overnight, and a discounted charge for people who purchase a bus excursion fare.

"We're hoping for some good changes" regarding service and security, Bradshaw said.
gsmith@projo.com / (401) 277-7334