Police Investigate String of Car Break-Ins at Movie Theater

Thieves broke into four cars in the parking lot of AMC Loews Stony Brook movie theater Friday night and stole valuable property, Suffolk police said Tuesday.

The four incidents, which took place between 7 p.m. and midnight, are being investigated as instances of criminal mischief and petty larceny.

According to police reports, in all four instances a car window was broken. The stolen property included two cell phones, a laptop, a Gucci pocket book, a backpack and a duffel bag.

At a meeting of the Civic Association of the Setaukets and Stony Brook on Monday evening, Sixth Precinct Commanding Officer Bob Oswald discussed the incident and said the county's prescription drug epidemic is the root cause of many recent larcenies and break-ins. He advised people to not leave valuable belongings in their cars.

"Why do we leave this stuff in the cars?" he said. "Take your stuff out of your cars."