A brazen car break-in near Chinatown was caught on camera and a concerned business owner contacted 13 Action News after seeing thieves smashing car windows in broad daylight.
Business owners along Jones Boulevard near Spring Mountain Road are warning customers to be more vigilant. As shards of tempered glass from vehicles that were broken into can be seen everywhere.
#CrimeAlert: Some business owners in Chinatown are warning customers following a number of smash-and-grab car break-ins since Friday. One incident along Jones near Spring Mt was captured on camera. It happened in broad daylight. pic.twitter.com/IgxAQU9pdP
— Nina Porciuncula (@NinaReports) October 14, 2018
That's why the owner of Fukuburger put up a sign right at their front door warning customers about a rash of break-ins in the area. The owner, Colin Fukuhara, also showed a video of the smash-and-grab thieves in action.
"They smash the window and they put it in the car and they take off," said Fukuhara.
A surveillance video from Friday shows a thief breaking into one of Fukuhara's customer's vehicle.
It's blurry, but he says you'll notice a black car roaming around the parking lot, before parking next to the customer's silver sedan.
Then, a person gets out of the car and appears to take a peek inside the van. Within seconds the thief is seen breaking the window open in the video. And in less than a minute, that person takes off.
Fukuhara says the victims were actually sitting inside his restaurant when they noticed the suspect standing next to their car and didn't think much of it.
However, by the time they got out, all that's left was a mess.
Fukuhara says he's seen at least four smash-and-grab break-ins since Friday.
"The employees are the most frustrated because they're just seeing it happen over and over," Fukuhara said.
Employee Joshua Tarver has seen at least 5 smash-and-grab break-ins this month alone.
"This is such a crazy busy parking lot all the time that it's just an easy spot for them to hit I feel like," said Tarver.
Fukuhara wants people to be aware and be vigilant as he has noticed a lot of broken car windows in nearby parking lots. He's also encouraging victims to report any incident to the police.
"We need the crime statistics for the police to be aware that this is is a problem in our community right now," said Fukuhara.
Crime map shows there have been six reported car burglaries in the area since Sept. 1.
