There were 96 car break-in cases in Andover from March 2024 to April 2025, and on average, one car is broken into and property stolen every three to four days, according to data shared by the Andover Police Department.
“These were crimes of opportunity,” said Edward Guy, the deputy chief at the Andover Police Department. “People had left their vehicles unlocked, and criminals were able to get into the vehicles and steal whatever they could.”
Guy said his colleague found a woman rummaging through a car after midnight on April 3 behind 131 River Road. He approached her and noticed multiple purses and some drug paraphernalia in the vehicle. The woman said she was staying with friends at La Quinta Hotel and agreed to be searched. The officer noticed a bunch of different people’s IDs and licenses, he said.
“Looks like it had been dumped out from one of the bags that they had,” said Guy.
In the days leading up to this April 3 arrest, Guy said officers received reports of car break-ins around the Andover Country Club. After investigating, the police found items reported missing from the country club break-ins matched property recovered during this April 3 incident.
As a result, the woman found rummaging through the car “was charged with larceny over $1,200, which is a felony in Massachusetts,” said Guy.
This story was published as part of a collaboration between Andover News and the Department of Journalism in Boston University’s College of Communication. The student journalist is a member of Professor Meghan E. Irons’s Reporting in Depth class.
Guy said there are groups of criminals with drug addictions who break into Andover vehicles. “A lot of times when we have somebody who’s homeless, on top of that, they have drug-addiction issues, and so they’re trying to feed that habit,” Guy said. They are “breaking into cars that are unlocked and getting whatever they can to go out and sell that.”
Believing suburban Andover is a safe community, some Andover residents leave their cars unlocked, Guy said.
There were 18 cases in Shawsheen Village, the highest for any area of Andover, according to the map of Andover car-break-in locations shared by the police.
Liz Gutierrez, a Shawsheen resident who has lived there for three years, said she never noticed a car break-in.
She said she was surprised to learn there have been 96 car breaks within the past year.
“I want to compare Andover with Lawrence, and this city has much more security than them,” Gutierrez said.
South Lawrence and the Shawsheen area of Andover border each other, and the two communities’ police departments share information on crime, including car breaks, said Guy.
“We are working with the Lawrence Police Department,” said Guy. “Lawrence has 200 plus cameras in their city. We talk to them and they help us with investigations.”
Guy said Andover Police have considered installing more surveillance cameras at key intersections in Andover, but cost remains a challenge.
Guy said police use social media, town alerts and walks through neighborhoods to inform residents about what is transpiring.
“We try to get that type of information out there as much as possible. We knock on people’s doors and want to talk to them face to face.”
Sometimes people report incidents long after they happen, which makes it harder to investigate.
“The public is our eyes and ears,” said Guy. “You are not bothering us. It’s better to notify us that something’s going on so we can go and check it out.”
“We try to make sure people know: you can get targeted, so take precautions to protect yourself,” he said.