Car break-ins rising sharply
More than 21,000 cars had their windows smashed by thieves in Greece’s big cities last year, according to newly published police figures, although it is thought that the actual number of vehicles damaged is much higher. Police said that 21,712 cars were broken into last year, which represents about 60 reported thefts a day or some 30 percent of the total thefts recorded by officers. However, insurance companies have seen the number of claims for broken windows shoot up by about 40 percent over the last six months, sources said. It is also thought that thousands of car break-ins go unreported. Central Athens neighborhoods are among the worst-hit by this form of crime. «A lot of cases that we deal with are cars from Omonia, Vathis Square, Patissia and Sepolia,» Evangelos Karamanis, who owns a shop that installs car windows, told Kathimerini.
