ST. LOUIS — A shopping plaza in the city's Central West End neighborhood is dealing with back-to-back crimes in just over a week span.
Late Wednesday night, gym goers picked up shattered glass outside of Planet Fitness in the Lindell Marketplace shopping plaza.
That's where four cars were broken into. Windows were busted out between 10:30 p.m. and 12:30 a.m.
One gym employee, who also was a victim, helped others clean glass out of their cars.
One man said, "It sucks man. They look through my stuff and didn't find my wallet, thank God."
It's not the first time crime has impacted this shopping plaza.
On May 7, a double shooting happened right next door of Planet Fitness in front of Qdoba and Wingstop shortly after 9 p.m.
A preliminary investigation revealed a 21-year-old man and a 22-year-old man got into an argument with two other men that led to them shooting each other. The shooting victims showed up at an area hospital a short time later.
One man had multiple gunshot wounds to the lower body, and the other man was shot in the ankle.
5 On Your Side received surveillance footage from the Central West End Neighborhood Security Initiative.
It shows one shooter in front of Qdoba and another in front of a parked car on Lindell. Both fired at each other multiple times. Qdoba and Wingstop were still open at the time.
A week later, police said an at-large warrant application was made with the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office and charges against both individuals were refused, citing a lack of evidence and self-defense.
5 On Your Side also spoke to an employee at Telle Tire.
They said they just fixed their window from three weeks ago. It was shattered after a driver drove by, shooting at another car multiple times.
A frequent shopper, who didn't want to be identified, is worried.
She said, "That makes me nervous, being a single female, not wanting to a carry gun. Normally you think crime is in the alley, or on the side, in the dark, it's not in everyone's face."
Qdoba is now boarded up for its broken windows and the fence in front is riddled with bullet holes.
Despite a surveillance monitor sitting in the parking lot, crime continues.
The frequent shopper said she'll continue to come around and hopes patrols do too.
"I would like to see the patrols back up, police patrols. I think it would lessen crime but at the same time, we need to start governing ourselves better, it starts with you," she added.
The ward's alderman, Michael Browning, told 5 On Your Side there are multiple safety measures in place for the Central West End, including work with the Neighborhood Security Initiative.
He said these events are tragic and they are responding to work with area partners to do more patrolling.
A Planet Fitness spokesperson shared this statement:
"The local franchise group is working closely with police in their investigation of the recent thefts outside of the Lindell location. We take this matter very seriously and are committed to providing a safe environment for our members and employees. As this is an ongoing investigation, we refer any additional inquiries to the authorities."