LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Residents of an affordable senior living community in southwest Las Vegas say they are living in fear after a rash of car break-ins in their own parking lot.
At the Arioso Senior Apartments off of Blue Diamond and Fort Apache roads, residents tell Channel 13 two cars were stolen and 16 have been burglarized in the past three months.
"My personal car got broken into, and then I got a rental car, then two days later they broke into the rental car," said Arioso Senior Apartments resident Rory T. Edwards.
Residents have security camera footage they say shows a person checking several cars with a flashlight, a person breaking into and diving in a car, three people checking cars and hiding under a truck, a person jumping over a brick wall into the complex — and many more examples of trespassing and criminal activity.
"They consistently come back because of opportunity, so if we alleviate the opportunity, then we can feel safer anyhow," said Vickie Caldwell, who has lived in the complex since it opened in 2022.
Caldwell and other residents say they've brought their concerns to management.
"The management said in the rental policy, they're not responsible for our personal property, but I told them that they're responsible for the individuals who live in this building and the safety and security," Edwards said.
Channel 13 spoke with management, but they said they had no comment on the break-ins. As of Monday night, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department had not returned Channel 13's request for more information.
Edwards, Caldwell and others filed several police reports, but they say it took a dozen break-ins to get an extra police patrol in the area. The patrol is during the day, and police are helping residents with a neighborhood watch program.
Caldwell says they will start getting residents to be part of the neighborhood watch team in early February.
While they hope a neighborhood watch program will help, residents say a gate to stop people entering the property would make them feel more secure. Their parking lot remains un-patrolled at night, and there is no security guard on site.
