SAN ANTONIO – Alejandro Garcia said his car has been broken into three times since the start of the year.
“Once it was twice in one week,” Garcia said. “It’s just disheartening. It makes you mad.”
He lives on the Southwest Side near Interstate 35 and West Ansley Boulevard. Across all three cases, his car windows have been smashed, and multiple parts have been damaged or stolen.
Now, after paying the bill and with no suspects caught, he’s calling on the San Antonio Police Department for help.
It’s costing “anywhere from $800 to $1200 to fix,” Garcia said. “It’s very frustrating when you live on a budget, and you’re trying to move forward in life ... something has to happen about it.”
Lizzandra Trevino, a public information officer for SAPD, said vehicle thefts, break-ins and vandalism happen across the city.
“It happens in all parts of San Antonio,” she said. “North, South, West, East side.”
Trevino said criminals often target vehicles or what’s inside them, such as laptops, jewelry and firearms.
When asked what SAPD does regularly to be more proactive in these types of crimes, Trevino said, “Definitely, what we do is we just do a lot of patrol bys.”
The department advises residents to lock their vehicles, put away their valuables, and report any crimes that may have happened.
Data from SAPD shows that, between January and March of this year, vehicle thefts are down about 16% compared to last year.
The most-stolen vehicles in our city last month, according to SAPD, were Ford F-Series pickups, Hyundai Elantras and Chevrolet Silverados.
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