Thieves got into dozens of homes around Riverview in Hillsborough Co. around Christmas Eve and into this week, taking off with hundreds of dollars’ worth of items.
Hillsborough Co. deputies arrested four teens on Tuesday after they were caught checking for unlocked cars in the Random Oaks neighborhood and getting into the ones they could open.
Julie Tindel locked the doors to her SUV on Christmas Eve, but that didn’t stop thieves from getting into it and stealing her camera.
There’s now a hole just below the drivers’ door lock, which she says deputies told her thieves must have used a tool like a screwdriver to pry the lock and open the door.
“They did say that they had not seen that before,” she said.
Her community is gated, but that didn’t stop thieves from breaking into her car and getting into her neighbors car where they took off with a loaded gun.
Just five minutes away, thieves took off with James Lee’s car.
He also says his car was locked.
“It was super upsetting,” he said.
Regardless,Tindel says she’ll now park her SUV inside the garage and make sure there aren’t any valuables inside, especially her garage door opener.
Deputies around several counties including Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco have been dealing with car burglaries around neighborhoods for weeks now.
