A report of a bizarre encounter with a gun-toting thief caught in the act of breaking into a vehicle raises a whole lot of questions about the epidemic of car break-ins in Portsmouth.
Just after 6 a.m., a man said he spotted thieves roll up in a truck and smash the window of a vehicle on Wayne Avenue before rummaging through the contents.
The man said he pulled a knife in an attempt to stop the thieves, but one of them pulled a gun on him. They told him they were just doing their job because someone was paying them to break into cars.
If true, this puts a whole new light on the issue as the rise in break-ins was generally considered to be linked to desperate addicts or homeless people.