Car burglary photoPolice want to remind residents to lock their cars after a handful of car break-ins through the downtown and Southside areas over the last two days, but that might not do much to stop one burglar who apparently used a rock to break into cars.
Reba Timothy, the manager of Blowout Co., said she came to work around 7:30 a.m. Tuesday to find her friend's car window smashed by a burglar who scattered belongings along the sidewalk near the intersection of Cowart and West 13th streets.
The victim left her car parked there overnight and came back to find a rock the size of a watermelon sitting in the driver's seat with broken glass everywhere.
"Her stuff was littered across the sidewalk," Timothy said. "She had receipts everywhere and her cosmetics were on the ground."
Timothy said there were multiple victims.
"There were five cars there this morning that all had been broken into. They were all within that same little stretch between Firestone and the place I work," she said. "It looked like they took that big rock to each one of them."
Car burglary photoAlthough caution won't stop someone from smashing through a car window with a rock, police are encouraging the public to remember to lock their vehicles.
"It shocks the conscience as to how many people leave their vehicles and even their homes open, allowing for phenomenal opportunities for crimes to occur," Property Crimes Lt. Craig Joel said.
Four cars have been reported as being broken into since Sunday at 22 W. 13th St., 1301 Market St., 3200 Broad St. and 400 Cherry St.
The cars on Broad Street and West 13th Street had items stolen from inside, while the other two were vandalized. Joel said there could be more victims, but police can work only with what gets reported.
"If they are not reported we have no way of knowing we need to focus resources in that particular area," he wrote in an email. "At the end of the day, crime loves an opportunity and the police can only do so much in the form of writing a report after the fact."
Contact staff writer Emmett Gienapp at egienapp@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6731. Follow him on Twitter @emmettgienapp.