‘Sick of it’: Pineville police warn of rising car break-ins

PINEVILLE, N.C. — Pineville police are reminding people to lock their car doors after an influx of car break-ins this year.

Pineville Police told Channel 9’s Eli Brand many of those break-ins are happening here in the McCullough neighborhood.

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Several neighbors said either their own cars were broken into or they’d heard of it happening. They all asked to remain anonymous out of fear that the people committing these crimes would come back to their home.

“It’s everywhere, this whole neighborhood,” one man said. “Every time we turn around someone is breaking into cars.”

He said his truck was broken into in the middle of the night, and he lost several power tools.

“With the batteries and all, about $2,500 worth of stuff,” he said.

Just down the road, another neighbor says her parents’ car was broken into while it was in her driveway.

“And the car was parked in the upper part of the driveway, so I was like, wow, somebody came all the way up to the house to try and go through the car,” she said.

These stories are not uncommon, and numbers from the Pineville Police Department show they are actually getting worse.

Car break-ins in the town are up 18% over last year.

Police say the problem usually involves groups of people driving around neighborhoods and checking cars to see if they are unlocked. If they are, the open them and look for valuables.

In a Facebook post, the department said 98% of vehicles broken into were left unlocked, and the rest involved purses, electronics or other valuables left in plain view.

Locking your doors and removing valuable items are simple ways to prevent you from becoming a target.

In a neighborhood across town, one neighbor captured video of people checking cars near their home. They did call police who they say responded quickly.

“We’re all just tired of it. I lost a lot of money, you know? Insurance didn’t cover all of that,” the neighbor said. “That’s, kind of, where we’re at. We’re getting sick of it.”

Police say they are running random operations and deployments to fight the issue. They’ve also been meeting with hotels, apartment complexes and business owners to find the best ways to stop the crime.

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