By George P. Hassett

Car break-ins have tripled in Somerville since 2005 and police officials say GPS devices, satellite radios and iPods are the big targets.

In 2005 between Jan 1 and April 8, Somerville police reported 56 motor vehicle breaking and entering incidents. In the same time period in 2006, police said 88 such crimes occurred, while in the first four months of 2007, the number of car break-ins have skyrocketed to 184.

“Crime is down but this one category is killing us,” Capt. Paul Upton said.

The thefts are being driven by car-owners who leave expensive electronic items in plain sight inside their vehicles, he said. Just leaving a GPS system mounting device on the window can invite trouble from a thief passing by, he said.

‚ÄúWe’re trying to get people to secure {iPods, GPS devices and satellite radios} in their trunks because it is so simple to break into a car,‚Äù he said.

Ward 2 has seen the most car break-ins with 102 reported in 2006, Ward 1 was next with 86 and Ward 7 had the fewest such incidents with only 39.

To combat the skyrocketing rates of car break-ins, the Somerville police detective unit developed an action plan. Part of the action plan, police said, is to conduct surveillance in the city’s hot spots, particularly Ward 2.

As part of the plan, police arrested two Somerville men and a Wilmington man Thursday, April 5, in connection with a series of car break-ins where GPS navigation systems were stolen.

Kevin Banos, 28 and his brother Jeffrey Banos, 26, both of Somerville and Christopher Aurilio, 24, of Wilmington, were arrested and charged with seven counts of receiving stolen property and conspiracy to commit larceny.  All three were scheduled to appear in Somerville District Court Friday morning.

The Banos brothers had been suspected in several local thefts of GPS systems and police set up a surveillance of their home at 47 Hanson Street on April 4.

Police watched from Caldwell Avenue as Kevin Banos left his home with a friend and allegedly followed the pair to the parking lot at the Meadow Glen  Mall in Medford. Banos walked through aisles of parked cars at the lot and peered inside while his friend acted as lookout, police said.

Banos and his friend then left the parking lot, allegedly still followed by an unmarked police car. Banos and the driver entered the Woburn Mall Shopping Plaza and did the same thing they had done at the Meadow Glen Mall, police said. They repeated this behavior in the parking lot of Commerce Way Lowes Store across the street, police said.   

Because of heavy traffic, police lost sight of Banos and his partner as they were allegedly driving into Burlington. Somerville Police contacted Burlington Police and informed them of the situation. Later that day, Burlington Police reported a series of motor vehicle break-ins at local parking lots within the time frame Somerville Police observed Banos enter Burlington.

The Banos brothers were monitored by police Thursday night as they allegedly met with Aurilio at the Market Basket parking lot at 400 Somerville Ave. In the lot, Aurilio allegedly received a bag from the Banos brothers.

Shortly after leaving the parking lot, Aurilio was stopped by police for a motor vehicle infraction and the bag he received from the Banos’ was discovered to have seven GPS navigation systems believed to be stolen, police said.

Aurilio was immediately arrested. Kevin and Jeffrey Banos were arrested at their home a short time later.

The arrests were made by Detectives John Oliveira, Mario Oliveira, Ernest Nadile and Michael Kiely.