SALEM — It's bad enough when thieves smash car windows to steal car stereos, but it's something else entirely to steal fake teeth and checks for baby food.
That's exactly what Salem Patrolman Michael Dunn discovered yesterday morning, when nine car owners from 10 First St. complained of the overnight thefts. One man said he found a passenger-side window smashed in his Toyota, with the thief grabbing a laser radar detector and a sports bag with three boxes holding about 18 sets of dentures. Police reported they were each "valued anywhere from $3,000 to $10,000, not to mention the amount of time it took each patient for the moldings, which they would have to do over."
Police found a blue rubber glove near one car and took fingerprints. They spent nearly three hours at the scene.
Other thefts included:
A wallet that included a mother's Social Security card, an infant's Social Security card and 26 government checks for baby food through November. Also taken were a regular checkbook and a digital camera. Thieves pried open a Subaru's window.
A stereo faceplate after a car window was pried open.
A car stereo ripped from a vehicle. The thief left wires all over the dashboard, doing enough damage to the wiring that the car no longer started.
A Sony stereo grabbed after a window was pried open.
A CD/MP3 player taken through a pried-open minivan window.
A CD player and pay stubs for two people from a Mercury.
A CD player from a Dodge with a smashed window.
A stereo and a bag from a Plymouth.


