People report three car break-ins at the Twin Lakes Park

There are reports of at least three car break-ins at Twin Lakes in Southwest Columbia.

An alert was issued for the Grindstone nature area off Old Highway 63.

Cars were found with smashed windows and hundreds of dollars worth of stolen valuables.

On average, last year in Columbia, there were approximately three car break-ins a day, amounting to almost half a million dollars in property loss.

A student from Mizzou who was walking the Martin Luther King Trail today said he never leave valuable things in sight in his car because that’s how his mom’s purse was stolen.

“She left her purse in the car, somebody broke her window and took it out,” said student Nathan Schroeder.

According to the Columbia Police Department, there’s been over 30 car break-ins in just the last month and they expect to see even more with the summer months coming. They say to be extra careful in park and move theater parking lots because they are often overlooked.

Brian Weimer, a major at MUPD, said he sees car break-ins on campus every year. He said theft is their number one crime.

Weimer told ABC 17 some tips on how to deter thieves from your car.

“Roll-up the windows, lock the doors, do not leave items of value in view. If you have something valuable in your vehicle make sure you secure it in your trunk of the glove box at the very least,” said Weimer.

He also said to park in well lit and high visibility areas, “somewhere where there’s high foot traffic, so there’s potential of people seeing suspicious people,” said Weimer.

Law enforcement told us if you see anything that looks suspicious or does not seem right, to contact your local law enforcement and they will investigate it.