COMFORT, Texas – There’s a reason the town of Comfort got its name; residents call it a calm and quiet place. But they say that’s changing as the population soars in South Central Texas.
“It’s getting crazier, and Comfort is growing,” Lizzeth Caldera said.
Caldera’s family owns the Miguel and Leugim Tire Shop. In early August, her dad, Miguel, woke up to a call he could have never imagined: his company truck was stolen.
“It’s our service truck,” Caldera said. “It had all our tools. Everything we needed in there.”
Last month, we told you that 19,000 cars were stolen in San Antonio over 12 months. We wanted to know if the same trends were being seen in small towns along I-10.
A spokesperson for the city of Boerne said they haven’t seen a spike.
“For theft of a motor vehicle, there were 40 in the City of Boerne last year, and so far in 2024, we have 32 reports,” that spokesperson said.
They said the records for burglary of a motor vehicle for previous years are listed below:
- Across the year of 2018 - 47
- Across the year of 2019 - 72
- Across the year of 2020 - 70
- Across the year of 2021 - 47
- Across the year of 2022 - 89
- Across the year of 2023 – 63
- Across the year of 2024 (as of Aug. 16) – 45
The Kendall County Sheriff’s Office said they’ve seen a slight increase in these crimes but nothing drastic. Their numbers:
- From Aug. 19, 2022, to Aug. 19, 2023 – 15
- From Aug. 19, 2023, to Aug. 19, 2024 – 18
“It’s easy to get complacent,” said Kevin Klaerner, a lieutenant for the Kendall County Sheriff’s Office.
He said his best advice for being proactive about vehicle thefts is to take your key away from your car, lock your car and remove all valuables from your car.
Caldera said her family’s company car was found in San Antonio last week with minimal damage. But, she said the tools inside cost hundreds of dollars and were all stolen.
“The good thing was that the truck was in perfect condition still,” Caldera said.
