Fulton County

Rash of car break-ins has neighbors on alert

FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — A man living in a neighborhood targeted by car thieves says it feels like they're under attack.

Lately, Roswell residents have noticed an unusual amount of car break-ins. Some have been reported as smash and grabs, but mostly thieves breaking into unlocked cars.

Police tell us they’re occurring in clusters in the neighborhoods of Studdiford and Willow Springs.

"Smarter criminals are getting a lot of targets that are all in the same area and they can just get them all at once, one after another," said Roswell resident Kris Kneubuhler.

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One homeowners association alerted residents to over 50 car break-ins in the area in just the past few days.

"Which is unbelievable, makes me think there's an army invading," said neighbor Dan Weinberg.

Channel 2's Carl Willis went through police reports and found case after case. He spoke to one woman who had her car stolen out of her garage in the Studdiford neighborhood.

Another homeowner reported having the keys stolen out of her Jeep, and fears thieves will be back to steal the vehicle any day.

Four other cars, including Wally White's, were entered in the Seven Pines apartments over the weekend.

"Went through my car and found out everything was a mess. My iPad was missing and so was my driver's license," White said.

Kneubuhler just moved in to the Willow Springs neighborhood but he's already putting his skills to work.

He owns a home security company and is installing intelligent cameras that can zoom in on suspect faces and license plates.

"I'm working on improving my security and I'm definitely going to be doing that for the neighborhood," he said.

Police have worked on helping residents make those targets more challenging, but the biggest challenge could be shedding what neighborhood officials call a "misguided" sense of security.

"Leaving your keys in your car isn't a good thing anywhere. I don't care how safe you think your neighborhood is,” Weinberg said.

Residents believe people are casing these areas for easy targets, and fear they'll be back.

Police said the best thing to do is to report all suspicious activity.