SAN ANTONIO – Neighbors in a San Antonio community are fed up with the car break-ins and vandalism they say they see almost daily.
Tae Garcia watched as a group drove by and damaged and stole her Halloween animatronics outside her front door twice.
“So the damage altogether is about $2,500 put together,” she said.
She quickly uploaded her video online to alert other neighbors. They quickly connected the dots and believed the same suspects had been targeting the neighborhood for several days.
“This is crime that happens every single day in every neighborhood,” Garcia said.
San Antonio police data shows property crime is up more than 6% citywide this year.
Detective Carlos Ancira and Raul Valdez investigate property and auto theft crimes. They say thieves are driving around looking for easy targets. Sometimes, victims make it easy for them unintentionally.
“We leave our cars unlocked. We leave valuable things within sight. And so those kind of things attract people to our vehicles,” Valdez said.
Having homes and driveways well-lit and installing security cameras can help detectives in theft cases. They’ve also successfully used Air tags, but they warn victims not to confront suspects and instead call police.
“You can replace property any time but not your life or your family member’s life,” Ancira said.