Vehicle break-ins raise concerns in north Columbia neighborhood
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Some residents in a north Columbia Neighborhood are growing concerned after a recent sting of vehicle break-ins Tuesday morning.
The break-ins occurred near the 5100 block of Aspen Ridge Drive. The Columbia Police Department confirmed an incident report was filed, but did not provide any further details.
Ring camera video submitted to ABC 17 News shows at least three people wearing black hoodies coming from two cars parked on the side of a cul-de-sac. As one of them approaches the truck and breaks the window to search inside, the second person walks behind the truck with a gun pointed at the house. The third person is facing the street.
The owner of the truck -- who wished to remain anonymous out of safety concerns -- said he was glad that he didn’t get woken up by the noise otherwise he might have gone downstairs with his gun to try and scare off the burglars, not knowing one of them had a gun pointed at the front door. CPD advises people to not approach suspects with a gun and call 911 immediately.
According to the man, the incident occurred around 3 a.m. Tuesday. He did not learn about it until he woke up. He claims a Columbia police officer told him that at least 10 people had experienced issues, with damage ranging from $400-$800.
Another video that shows a second incident from the same night show what appears to be a man in a hoodie checking two car doors to see if they are unlocked, before running off.
A third video from the same night -- from a man who said two of his truck windows were broken -- shows what looks like the same two cars from the first video pulling into another cul-de-sac in the neighborhood.
The man who submitted the third video -- who only wished to be identified as Jared out of safety concerns -- also said that police told him they had made “at least ten stops” and that this is not the first time something like this has happened in the neighborhood.
“This is the second time within the past year that crimes like this have occurred in our neighborhood. Most people, myself included do everything right (lock doors, security cameras, flood lights, etc.),” Jared wrote in a statement to ABC 17 News. “I am concerned with the leadership in Columbia and the direction they are leading us in terms of crime. Criminals are becoming undeterred and more confident when carrying out their acts. More needs to be done to stop this trend and make CoMo safer.”
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