HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A Crime Tracker alert -- Houston police say they're seeing
a big jump in car break-ins in neighborhoods across the city. And it's particularly
become a major concern for residents on the northwest side.
Right
now police are warning you that locking your cars just isn't enough. Burglars
are on the prowl, and they're hitting some northwest side neighborhoods pretty
hard. Resident parked a Buick in Oak Forest. Its locks were popped with a screwdriver;
crooks ripped out the stereo and stole speakers from the trunk.
"Well,
it's scary," said Diane, a concerned neighbor. "It's definitely
scary."Scary, since neighbors are learning the Buick is among a string of
cars and trucks thieves broke into this week in areas across northwest Houston.
"We've
had a significant increase here in The Heights," said HPD Sgt. Chad Wall.
"It's actually a little over 50 percent."Sgt. Wall says some drivers
are making their cars simple targets for thieves."The problem is they are
leaving purses, computers, and all that kind of stuff in their vehicles,"
he said.
Using
13 Eyewitness News' exclusive Crime Tracker, we looked at reported motor
vehicle burglaries across northwest side patrol beats, including neighborhoods
like the Heights Westport, Timbergrove,
Oak Forest and Garden Oaks to name a few. The data shows police responded to
211 car burglaries in those areas between January and March last year, compared
to the 368 break-ins during the same time this year. That's a 74 percent
increase.
As for
that Buick, it was later found abandoned about two miles away. Diane said,
"It doesn't seem to matter what neighborhood you live in, it's going to
happen."Police say car burglaries in some areas like Sunset Heights are
actually down about 14 percent, but that doesn't mean you should let down your
guard.
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