Police say holiday season crime could plague Newbury shoppers

Boston police are doubling and, on some shifts, tripling patrols of the city's Newbury Street shopping district in anticipation of a holiday-season spike in shoplifting and robberies.

Since Oct. 1, there have been five commercial burglaries and one armed robbery in boutiques on the city's high-end shopping corridor, most recently early Saturday, authorities said .

Shortly after midnight, thieves smashed a window at Italian design house Valentino's store at 45 Newbury St. , stealing several items, according to police . The 3,000-square-foot shop, featuring frocks from a designer who has dressed Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Jennifer Lopez, opened in May.

On Friday night, police said , two men were arrested with hundreds of dollars in shoplifted merchandise at American Apparel at 136 Newbury St. Five hours earlier, about 2 p.m., another suspect allegedly stole several pairs of sunglasses from the Sunglass Hut at 182 Newbury. On Nov. 20, a window was broken at Longchamp, a French purse and leather goods maker at 139 Newbury, and a purse taken from a display case, police said .

Yesterday, windows at Longchamp and Valentino were boarded up.

Police said yesterday that the thefts are an unfortunate staple of the holiday season, though they acknowledged the most disturbing incident occurred Oct. 3, well before the holidays, when the Marc Jacobs boutique at 81 Newbury was held up. An arrest has been made in that heist, police said .

Salespeople at the targeted stores declined to comment on the record, but some said they have increased security in recent weeks.

Captain William Evans, who supervises the police district that includes Newbury Street, said he is aggressively responding to shopkeepers' concerns, citing his decision to permanently place an officer on a night walking beat along the boulevard two months ago, and adding that he intends to post an officer on horseback in the shopping area.

"We're going to increase our patrols along Newbury Street in a proactive way with increased directed patrols, walking beats, as well as plainclothes officers and one mounted officer," Evans said.

But Evans emphasized that the increased presence is standard preparation for the holiday shopping rush, not an indication that there has been an unusual rash of robberies in the popular retail district.

He said there also will be extra patrols during the holidays in other high-volume shopping areas, such as Downtown Crossing and along Boylston Street.

"We realize people want to see the officers out there," Evans said. "We realize that incidents of shoplifting do go up so we do proactively put patrols out there."

Evans said he and City Councilor Michael Ross have been working on the issue and even met for a march down Newbury Street about a month ago in a bid to reassure merchants about any perceived safety threat.

Riccardo Dallai, who owns the clothing store Riccardi at 116 Newbury St., said that after 30 years there, he has grown used to an increase in theft and robberies during the holiday season.

"It's the time of year," he said. "I've been experiencing the same story always this time of year -- shoplifting, break-ins get more popular. . . . People need money to buy presents."

Anne Swanson, the head of the crime prevention committee of the Back Bay Neighborhood Association , said she is outraged by the recent robberies.

"I find it just sickening that these beautiful properties are subjected to this kind of assault," she said.

"It's an affluent area. People come here to enrich themselves."

Suzanne Smalley can be reached at ssmalley@globe.com