Dallas police have opened an investigation into a mass break-in of vehicles at an apartment complex over the weekend.
Roughly 10 vehicles were broken into in the early hours of October 14 by what surveillance footage suggests were two male suspects.
A few of the residents of the Rosemont at Lakewest Apartments, situated at 3030 N. Hampton Rd., witnessed the break-ins. The crimes took place in Council Member Omar Narvaez’s District 6.
“Friday night, Saturday morning I wake up to like, alarms going off,” explained resident Wayne Smith, according to NBC 5 DFW. “And from there, I go on the patio. On the patio I see two dudes walking around the neighborhood. … I can see them actually looking into vehicles with the flashlight. One was carrying a backpack. One had like, a black hoodie with angel wings in front.”
Smith pulled out his phone and recorded the two suspects, eventually shouting at them, “Yo, y’all should take off. Y’all are on camera.”
Other surveillance cameras also caught images of the suspects, but residents say security is generally lax at Rosemont at Lakewest Apartments.
“We never had security up in here. Never, never had security. The gates stay open,” said resident James Lane, per NBC 5. “I had to put two cameras up on my house because they broke into my car.”
Although Lane was not a victim this time around, Smith told reporters that his wife’s vehicle was broken into.
“It was the back-passenger window, and then they took the chargers and like little stuff,” Smith recalled. “It doesn’t seem worth it.”
Sometimes, such culprits are armed, presenting a dangerous situation for some victims who witness or try to intervene in crimes in progress.
For instance, as reported by The Dallas Express, 60-year-old Jesse Simmons of East Dallas was shot when he disrupted someone attempting to break into his truck while getting ready for work back in August.
Simmons suffered gunshot wounds to his liver, kidney, and spine, leaving him paralyzed. The suspect has yet to be apprehended by police. The shooting happened in District 9, which Council Member Paula Blackmon represents.
The City of Dallas has logged 10,564 incidences of theft from vehicles to date since the start of the year, according to data from the crime analytics dashboard. While this represents an increase of 2.2% year over year, another vehicle-related offense — auto theft — has seen an alarming 40.8% hike in that same time period, rising from 10,616 to 14,944 this year as of October 17, year over year.
Despite auto theft being so prevalent in Dallas, the Dallas Police Department has struggled to combat the surge due to an ongoing officer shortage. Just short of 3,200 officers serve in the department despite a City analysis calling for around 4,000 sworn officers on staff.
As recently reported by The Dallas Express, due to the officer deficit, Dallas police have been averaging more than 90 minutes to respond to motor vehicle thefts in progress.
Many of the city’s auto thefts happen in Downtown Dallas, which logs significantly higher offense rates than Fort Worth’s downtown area. While both cities’ police departments have been struggling with officer shortages, Fort Worth has a specialized police unit monitoring its city center alongside private security guards.