Buffalo Metro Crime Watch: Burglaries and Car Thefts, Week of August 10 – August 16, 2026
Sunday was the busiest day of the week for thieves, and not one of them needed a lock. Three separate reports of stealing from inside a building came in on August 16 — one in Lockport before noon, then two in Clarence roughly two hours apart that evening. They capped a week in which the metro towns logged eight larcenies from buildings, made arrests in five of them, answered seventeen burglar alarms that all came back clean, and recorded, for another week, zero confirmed burglaries. A vehicle was also reported taken in Clarence on Saturday evening — the third straight week that has appeared on this blotter.
This Week at a Glance
Every row below is a real case from the New York State Police Troop A daily reports for August 10–16, 2026. Click any incident number to open the excerpt from the official report it came from.
| Date & time | Town | What happened | Status | Incident # |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 10, 9:40 AM | Clarence | Fraud | Investigation pending | NY2600988117 |
| Aug 10, 11:39 AM | Somerset | Criminal mischief | Investigation pending | NY2600988786 |
| Aug 10, 2:29 PM | Alden | Fraud | Investigation pending | NY2600989451 |
| Aug 10, 4:20 PM | Clarence | Larceny from a building | Arrest, adult | NY2600989856 |
| Aug 10, 7:22 PM | Clarence | Lost or stolen license plate | Closed | NY2600990322 |
| Aug 10, 9:55 PM | Lockport | Larceny (theft) | Arrest, adult | NY2600990775 |
| Aug 11, 9:35 AM | Grand Island | Criminal mischief | Investigation pending | NY2600992337 |
| Aug 11, 5:01 PM | Clarence | Criminal mischief | Arrest, adult | NY2600994119 |
| Aug 12, 7:35 AM | Clarence | Lost or stolen license plate | Closed | NY2600995839 |
| Aug 12, 1:56 PM | Batavia (Town) | Lost or stolen license plate | Closed | NY2600997278 |
| Aug 12, 2:54 PM | Boston | Lost or stolen license plate | Closed | NY2600997479 |
| Aug 12, 3:27 PM | Lockport | Larceny from a building | Arrest, adult | NY2600997784 |
| Aug 13, 9:14 AM | Royalton | Fraud | Investigation pending | NY2601001387 |
| Aug 13, 12:21 PM | Clarence | Bicycle theft | Investigation pending | NY2601001695 |
| Aug 13, 1:18 PM | Clarence | Larceny from a building | Arrest, adult | NY2601002035 |
| Aug 13, 4:49 PM | Lockport | Larceny from a building | Arrest, adult | NY2601002952 |
| Aug 14, 8:20 AM | Attica | Vandalism, private property | Closed | NY2601006062 |
| Aug 14, 1:38 PM | Grand Island | Fraud | Investigation pending | NY2601007073 |
| Aug 14, 10:50 PM | Cheektowaga | Vehicle taken | Arrest, under 18 | NY2601009277 |
| Aug 15, 3:30 PM | Clarence | Larceny from a building | Investigation pending | NY2601012218 |
| Aug 15, 4:33 PM | Lockport | Larceny from a vehicle | Closed | NY2601012526 |
| Aug 15, 5:18 PM | Clarence | Vehicle taken | Closed | NY2601012529 |
| Aug 16, 6:59 AM | Pendleton | Vandalism, private property | Investigation pending | NY2601014722 |
| Aug 16, 11:50 AM | Lockport | Larceny from a building | Closed | NY2601015351 |
| Aug 16, 7:19 PM | Clarence | Larceny from a building | Arrest, adult | NY2601016705 |
| Aug 16, 9:25 PM | Clarence | Larceny from a building | Investigation pending | NY2601017033 |
Burglaries and Break-Ins
The metro towns logged no confirmed burglaries between August 10 and August 16. No forced doors, no defeated deadbolts, no broken-out frames anywhere in Troop A’s Zone 1 or Zone 2 reporting. What the blotter did carry was seventeen burglar alarms, spread across Clarence, Lockport, Alden, Pendleton, Royalton, Warsaw, Stafford, Sardinia, Bennington, Batavia, Boston and Hartland. Every one of them was cleared without a crime attached.
Seventeen alarms and no break-ins is not a coincidence, and it is not luck. It is what a working alarm plus a door that actually locks does for a living: the noise starts, nobody wants to be there anymore, and troopers arrive to an intact building. The system did its job seventeen times in seven days.
Car Thefts and Vehicle Break-Ins
Two vehicles were reported taken this week, and a third case involved someone going through a vehicle for what was inside it.
Clarence again — the third week in a row
On Saturday, August 15 at 5:18 PM, a vehicle was reported taken in Clarence (NY2601012529). The case is listed as closed. That is now three consecutive editions of this Crime Watch in which a Clarence vehicle theft has appeared — it also ran in last week’s edition covering August 3–9.
Forty-five minutes earlier and one town over, someone was going through a vehicle in Lockport (NY2601012526). Saturday evening between roughly 4:30 and 5:30 PM was the single worst hour of the week for vehicle owners in the metro towns.
On Friday, August 14 at 10:50 PM, a vehicle was reported taken in Cheektowaga and troopers made an arrest of a person under eighteen (NY2601009277). We do not identify juveniles, and no details beyond the official record appear here.
Four license plates gone, two of them in Clarence
Four lost-or-stolen plate reports came in: Clarence on Monday evening and again early Wednesday, Batavia on Wednesday afternoon, and Boston on Wednesday afternoon. Plates are quiet, cheap crime. Nobody misses a plate for days, and in the meantime it goes on another vehicle to beat tolls, gas drive-offs and red-light cameras — and the tickets come to the registered owner.
Theft, Fraud & Commercial Crime Watch
This is where the week’s real activity sat.
Eight thefts from inside buildings — and five arrests
Larceny from a building was the single most common property crime on the blotter this week, with eight reports. Troopers made arrests in five of them:
- Monday, Aug 10, 4:20 PM — Clarence. Arrest, adult (NY2600989856).
- Wednesday, Aug 12, 3:27 PM — Lockport. Arrest, adult (NY2600997784).
- Thursday, Aug 13, 1:18 PM — Clarence. Arrest, adult (NY2601002035).
- Thursday, Aug 13, 4:49 PM — Lockport. Arrest, adult (NY2601002952).
- Sunday, Aug 16, 7:19 PM — Clarence. Arrest, adult (NY2601016705).
A sixth larceny arrest, filed under general theft rather than theft from a building, came out of Lockport late on Monday night (NY2600990775).
Thursday is worth a second look: two building thefts, two towns, three and a half hours apart, both ending in an arrest. So is Sunday, which produced three of the eight all by itself — Lockport at 11:50 AM, then Clarence at 7:19 PM and again at 9:25 PM.
Every one of these is a theft from inside a structure, not a break-in. Nothing on this list required defeating a lock. Somebody walked into a space that was open to them — a storeroom, a shared entry, an unlocked back door, a building still open for business — and left with something.
Six fraud reports, matching last week
Six fraud complaints came in — Clarence and Alden on Monday, Batavia on Monday night, Royalton on Thursday, Grand Island on Friday, and Batavia again on Sunday. Four of the six are still under investigation. Fraud does not touch your locks, but it usually travels with the same problem: information or access that was handed over voluntarily and then used.
Five criminal mischief and vandalism reports
Somerset and Grand Island both logged criminal mischief early in the week, and a Clarence case on Tuesday evening ended in an adult arrest. Attica reported vandalism to private property on Friday morning, and Pendleton reported vandalism just before 7:00 AM Sunday. Damaged locks, cut screens and broken hardware fall into this category, and they are the one type of case here that regularly turns into a same-day service call.
The Week by the Numbers
Across both Troop A zones, troopers logged 497 incidents reported between August 10 and August 16, 2026. Here is how the security-relevant share breaks down.
| Category | Count | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Confirmed burglaries | 0 | No forced entry anywhere in the metro towns |
| Burglar alarms answered | 17 | All cleared with no crime found |
| Larceny from a building | 8 | The week’s leading property crime |
| Larceny, other | 5 | Includes one Monday-night arrest in Lockport |
| Vehicles taken | 2 | Clarence and Cheektowaga |
| Larceny from a vehicle | 1 | Lockport, Saturday afternoon |
| Bicycle theft | 1 | Clarence, Thursday midday |
| Lost or stolen license plates | 4 | Two in Clarence, one Batavia, one Boston |
| Fraud | 6 | Four still under investigation |
| Criminal mischief & vandalism | 5 | One ended in an adult arrest |
| Suspicious person, vehicle or activity | 24 | Reported and checked, no crime charged |
| Adult arrests (all categories) | 15 | Across the full blotter |
| Arrests under 18 | 1 | Cheektowaga vehicle case; not identified |
| Cases still under investigation | 36 | Open as of the Monday morning report |
| Total incidents logged | 497 | Zones 1 and 2 combined, seven full days |
What This Week’s Cases Mean for Your Locks
Read the two columns against each other. Locks defeated this week: zero. Things stolen from inside buildings this week: eight. That gap is the whole lesson, and it has been the same lesson all summer.
“Eight thefts out of buildings and not one lock touched. Look at Sunday — Lockport in the morning, then Clarence twice in one evening. Nobody picked anything. They walked in. And that Clarence car makes three weeks running now. People hear ‘zero burglaries’ and think they are covered. What zero burglaries actually means is that the locks you bothered to turn are holding, and everything you lost came through a door you left open or a key you cannot account for. Go find every key to your house and your car tonight. If one is missing, that is a rekey, not a new lock.” — Simon Goodman, Defense Locksmith, Buffalo NY
Four things worth doing this week, in the order they pay off:
- Account for every key. House, garage, side door, both car keys. A key you cannot put your hand on is an unlocked door with extra steps — and that is a rekey, not a replacement.
- Put a real deadbolt on the doors you forget. Side doors, garage service doors and back entries are where the eight building thefts of this week live. A knob-only door is not locked in any meaningful sense.
- Take the keys out of the vehicle. Both vehicles taken this week were taken in the evening. Keys left in a console or on a hook near the door are the most common way a car leaves a driveway in this metro.
- Put anti-theft screws on your plates. Four plates in a week, two of them in one town. Screws cost a few dollars and take ten minutes.
For business owners
Eight larcenies from buildings with five arrests is a staffing-hours problem, not a hardware problem. The thefts happened while doors were legitimately open. What limits the damage is separating the space customers can reach from the space they cannot — a locked stockroom, a commercial-grade lock on the office door, and access control on anything holding inventory or cash. If a former employee still has a key, that is this week’s job.
Defense Locksmith is mobile across Erie and Niagara counties, and we handle residential, commercial and automotive key work on site. Call (716) 803-2934 and we will tell you honestly whether a rekey covers it or whether the hardware actually needs replacing.
Questions Buffalo homeowners ask us about the blotter
Three Clarence vehicle thefts in three weeks — should I be worried?
Worth paying attention to, not worth panicking over. Clarence is also the single most-patrolled town on this blotter and generated the most incidents of any town this week, so some of that is simply volume. The practical response is the same either way: keep both keys inside the house, not in the vehicle, and not on a hook by the door where a fishing rod through a mail slot can reach them.
What does “larceny from a building” actually mean?
It is theft from inside a structure without a break-in. If somebody walks into an unlocked garage, an open storeroom, a shared hallway or a business during opening hours and takes something, it is larceny from a building. The metro towns had eight of those this week and zero burglaries, which tells you exactly where the weak point is.
If nobody is breaking in, why bother upgrading my locks?
Because the reason nobody is breaking in is that the doors people bother to lock are holding. Seventeen alarms and zero burglaries is what a neighborhood full of working deadbolts looks like. The losses this week came through open doors and loose keys, so the highest-value work right now is a rekey and a real deadbolt on the side and garage doors.
Somebody took my license plate. What should I do?
Report it to police right away and replace it through the DMV. Stolen plates get put on other vehicles to dodge tolls, gas drive-offs and camera tickets, and those tickets come back to you as the registered owner — the police report is what protects you. Then use anti-theft screws on the new plate.
Does this edition cover the full week?
Yes. This one covers all seven days, 7:01 a.m. Monday August 10 through 7:00 a.m. Monday August 17, including Sunday’s daytime activity — which is where three of the week’s eight building thefts turned up.
Sources: incident details in this post are drawn from the New York State Police Troop A daily public information reports covering 7:01 a.m. August 10 through 7:00 a.m. August 17, 2026, and each case is tied to its official incident number; aggregate counts come from the same reports via the official NYSP blotter index. Charges arising from any arrest are accusations only and everyone is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law. We do not republish arrestee names, and juveniles are never identified.