BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
"Well most of the time, if your door's locked, they're gonna move onto the next vehicle, because what they're looking for is unlocked cars," Chief John McGrath of Hewitt Police Department said.
In 2023, police say there were 20 vehicle burglaries in Hewitt.
Chief McGrath says six to eight break-ins have happened so far in 2024. —
A trend with these break ins? They usually happen to unlocked vehicles in neighborhoods.
"People are now walking around, pulling on door handles and specifically looking for people leaving weapons in their vehicles," Chief McGrath said.
Chief McGrath encourages neighbors to take their weapon out of their vehicle overnight.
Police say valuables, like electronics, laptops and phones, are commonly stolen items.
They say vehicle break ins typically happen at night, but that was not the case for one of our neighbors.
Kacie has lived in our community since 2017. On the morning of August 5, she went to Warren Park with her mother and child.
After 20 minutes, they heard a loud splash in the creek… turns out, it was her mother's phone — which was left in her locked car.
"My windows were shattered, and her purse had been stolen from the vehicle," Hewitt resident Kacie said.
She says she contacted police immediately to report the incident.
"My kids come to the park all the time. We spend a lot of time at the park, so I would've never thought something would have happened like that… especially during the daytime," Kacie said.
