SAN ANTONIO – It seems some car burglars didn’t get the memo because they took no time off for spring break.
Instead, they were busy early Thursday, targeting vehicles parked outside two West Side hotels.
San Antonio police are investigating at least nine car burglaries that happened around 7 a.m. on Richland Hills Drive, near State Highway 151 and Loop 410.
Police said officers had reports of six break-ins at the Spring Hill Suites.
Three others were hit at the Best Western across the street. It was the second set of burglaries for this business within the past week or so.
On Thursday morning, Brent Boyko was left sweeping up glass that spilled out of the back seat of his truck.
He accidentally found out that several people had shattered the window on his pickup.
“I saw another gentleman who was at the (front) desk. He was talking about how he had been broken into. And I was, like, ‘Well, I better go check my truck.’ And sure enough, they broke the window off mine,” Boyko said.
The Waco resident had come to San Antonio with his family for a good time, including a visit to SeaWorld.
However, their day started with a bad situation that caused a slight delay in their plans.
When KSAT 12 News visited the Spring Hill Suites property, it appeared that at least one victim of the burglaries still was not aware.
The Dodge Ram pickup with Pennsylvania plates sat in a back parking lot with a wide-open space where a window used to be and shattered glass on the ground.
An anonymous hotel employee said the car break-ins have become frequent occurrences, particularly during holiday periods like spring break.
Staff at both hotels say they have surveillance cameras and overnight security patrols, but none of that seems to deter the suspects.
Some of the trucks that were hit were parked near those cameras or close to busy streets.
A video from the Best Western showed how quickly the crime occurs.
The video shows a person, dressed all in black, running up to a parked pickup, breaking a window, then scampering inside.
After scouring around inside the truck for a few seconds, the person quickly exits through the same broken window.
The entire crime took less than a minute.
“Talking to the police, they said they’re targeting, looking for guns. So they’re in and out looking for guns,” Boyko said, discussing what an officer told him.
In spite of the unplanned start to their day, Boyko said he and his family would make sure they finished it in a good way.
“It’s going to run us a little later than expected but we’ll still have fun. We’re not going to let this set us back,” he said.
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