ST. LOUIS — St. Louis Police are investigating dozens of car break-ins in one of the city's most popular neighborhoods. It's the second time in a week that drivers on the Hill have been targeted.
Police said more than two dozen cars were broken into in various locations throughout the Hill neighborhood this past weekend and the weekend before.
It's important to note that those were just those reported to the police.
Surveillance video obtained by 5 On Your Side shows at least three people getting out of an SUV and breaking into people's cars along Bischoff Avenue on June 2.
"You could watch them just go through everything and it was just thrown around. Two Sundays ago, it was just all the way down the street broken windows," said The Hill resident Ally Arcobasso.
They broke into Ally Arcobasso's car and smashed her husband's window out.
"He got a brand new car. He was so excited about it. He had it about three weeks and then that happened so it was really sad," Arcobasso said.
Arcosbasso said she leaves her car unlocked with nothing inside now. She said she was told there were at least 60 car break-ins in one weekend alone in the Hill.
The break-ins happened again this past weekend, in all, at least 25 cars were hit.
While police said the majority of the crimes were reported, there were some instances where victims didn't file a formal report, so the total number of cars broken into could be much higher.
Some streets that were hit the hardest were Daggett, Boardman, Northrup, Hampton and Bischoff, just to name a few.
Police said there were approximately 19 incident reports of vehicles being broken into since May 31. Of those 19 incident reports, there were six cars broken into in that incident in the 5100 block of Bischoff Avenue.
Police said the thieves stole luxury clothing, debit cards, and purses, among many other things.
"People have been going crazy over these recent break-ins, you know it puts a lot of people out especially if you can't afford to fix your car. We are very lucky in that we could just go get it fixed. But for some people they could just be driving with a window that's busted, and it's been storming like crazy. I don't know, it's sad," Arcobasso said.
Jennifer Gianino, the Hill 2000 Neighborhood Association president, said this is a recent spike and not the typical norm for The Hill.
"They were smashing people's windows in because they found valuables in the car. We always reiterate to our residents that they should take all their valuables out of their cars. Even if there is some change in the cupholder, take it out because you don't want a car break-in; you don't want to have to deal with the insurance company," Gianino said.
Police said they'll continue to review patrol plans to determine what adjustments might be needed for that area.
Ward 5 Alderman Joe Vollmer said he'd like to see a larger police presence in the Hill area to prevent crimes from happening.
"Police is what we need more than anything else in this city, and in the county also. That's our main thing, is making people feel that there's going to be something happening to them if they commit a crime," Vollmer said.
Meanwhile, police continue to remind people to not leave anything valuable inside their vehicles and to report any suspicious activity to police.
"From what I can gather, they are hitting a neighborhood or two every weekend," Gianino said.
Anyone with surveillance of the incidents is asked to call the St. Louis Police South Patrol Division Station at 314-444-0100.