INGLESIDE, Texas — A rise in burglaries in Ingleside has prompted police to warn residents.
The burgalaries occurred on the night of June 1 and the morning of June 2. The Ingleside Police Department says four male burglar suspects have "wreaked havoc" in the city.
Chief Tammy Burr with the Ingleside Police Department said she believes those men could be local to the area.
Burr said 13 residents and 24 total vehicles were burglarized. She said many of the cars were unlocked and cautions people to lock their cars.
“These could have been prevented had people just locked their cars. Probably most of these vehicle burglaries that occurred the other night, the vehicles were unlocked so it was a crime of opportunity for them," Burr said.
Some of the items that were stolen were computers, wallets with IDs, jewelry, and even firearms. Burr said there are a few charges they will be facing including burglary of a vehicle in which each instance is one class A misdemeanor and it is punishable by one year in jail or $4,000 or both. Ingleside PD is planning to enhance the charge with an organized criminal activity charge. They are also facing burglary of a habitation charge since they stole beer from the garage of a house.
"It is apparent they believe that other people work hard to buy nice things--so they can come and steal it," says a post from Ingleside police. "We have lots of video, pictures, and other evidence that will eventually lead to the identification, arrest, and prosecution of these 4 young men."
The department has released photos of two of the burglary suspects, along with a map of where the recent burglaries have taken place.
The Ingelside Police Department is currently working with other police departments in the area to see if other cities have been hit. They are also collecting security video from homes nearby and are confident they will catch the four men.
One resident of Ingleside, Dwayne Rod, lives in the neighborhoods where the robberies occurred. He said his car has been stolen from, but it's been years since he's heard of any burglaries in the area.
“I keep the doors locked at all times, the fence gate locked at all times. Some people (say) I’m a little overboard with that but that’s just how I feel safe," Rod said.
Mark Cory, the police chief of Portland, TX said they recently had burglaries and said it happens every year around this time when kids start getting out of school for the summer because they are bored and looking for something to do.
"We had a couple of burglaries from vehicles last night, but it's not anywhere like a trend and I don't think I can associate it with what's going on Ingleside. We had two last night," Cory said.
Officer Stephanie Diaz from the Aransas Pass Police Department said there have been no burglaries in Aransas Pass.
Anyone with information regarding these suspects is encouraged to call 361-776-2531.
Officials remind the public to remove your valuables and lock your vehicles when they are parked at your residence.
