GREENSBORO, N.C. — Dalene Johnson-Lowery says it wasn't until recently that car break-ins on her end of the street have gotten worse.
"There have been more break-ins," said Johnson-Lowery, "We had one right next door."
One of the homeowners whose car was broken into says thankfully nothing was stolen, but whoever did it threw around some items in the car and looked through the glove box.
The homeowner says there was a checkbook in the car, but it wasn't taken. She's thankful because she says if someone got their hands on her bank account number, damage could've been done.
"Oh, it was scary. For it to be right here, like I said we’ve never had any issues here. You know further down Landerwood Drive they’ve been having these issues pretty much all summer," said Johnson-Lowery.
Greensboro Police say theft from cars throughout the city has increased this year compared to recent years. The numbers for the last three years-to-date are as follows:
- 2017 - there were 1,375
- 2018 - there were 1,234
- 2019 - there have been 1,833
Greensboro police say this year's numbers are up about 49 percent over 2018 and 33 percent over 2017.
Detective Justin Stewart with the Greensboro Police Department says the Landerwood Drive incidents are believed to be connected to one on Reedy Fork Parkway on July 13.
He says the suspects in the surveillance video from Landerwood Drive look similar to the ones in the surveillance video from Reedy Fork Parkway, although Stewart says the second video is harder to make out.
Stewart says the break-ins happened just 20 minutes apart around 2:30 a.m. July 13. He says there were five other incidents reported in that area on July 13 as well.
"I’m hoping that it gets resolved," said Johnson-Lowery, "We do have like a neighborhood watch. We do know a lot of people that do have cameras on their property including ourselves."
Greensboro Police are working on educating the public at community watch meetings and through social media.
The biggest piece of advice is: lock your cars. Surveillance video also serves as a huge help to police.
"It's very important. Not only locking it but making sure nothing's visible because if someone sees something they’re going to break your window even if the car is locked," said Johnson-Lowery.