AUSTIN (KXAN) — Those from the community walking around many of Austin's most popular spots will probably see shattered glass from car break-ins.
Many people park their cars at popular spots like Zilker Park, Mount Bonnell, Red Bud Isle and around Austin High School to run the trail, but they are returning to find their windows smashed out and their valuables inside gone.
It's a problem that KXAN continues to highlight with a few suspects being arrested just this month.
The Austin Police Department tells KXAN they are making arrests in these cases, but many of the criminals are repeat offenders who aren't learning their lesson.
"Once an individual has been arrested or otherwise charged, the case is then reviewed by the district attorney's office and maybe the county attorney's office and they determine whether to pursue charges and what potential consequences may arise," said Det. Shawn Green with APD.
Green said the suspects in these cases are even taking to social media to talk about the break-ins.
"Clearly if you are that brazen then you are not in fear of any consequences, and that is really what we are up against. There is no fear of consequence, and if there is no fear of consequence, people are going to behave however they want to behave until there is some sort of correction," Green said.
Green said the people committing the crimes are well trained at what they do and it can just take a few seconds for them to smash the glass and grab your valuables.
"They look in your car, they are going to pull up open their car door three or four inches, they are going to peek out, they are going to see something of interest or they are not, and if they see something of interest they are going to be in and out of that car in seconds," said Green.
APD suggests hiding your valuables or taking them with you, but many of the people being targeted are tourists who have no idea about the dangers.
A look at the APD crime map shows 43 car burglaries in a 2,000 foot radius of Mount Bonnell since July 1.
KXAN also looked at a 2,000-foot radius around Austin High School near the hike and bike trail and found that there were 40 car burglaries since July 1. However, this is just a snapshot of what is really happening.
There are dozens of locations that are popular for people to stop by and most of those places are target areas -- places like Mayfield Park, the Pennybacker Bridge and most parking areas around the Hike and Bike trail around Lady Bird Lake are hot spots, too.
"They are taking credit cards. Now they have access to your credit cards, your account numbers, they might have gotten your drivers license, your passport, very sensitive information," Green said.
KXAN spoke with the District Attorney's Office and the County Attorney's Office about sitting down to talk about the process these suspects go through and why we see some of the same people over and over again re-committing these crimes. Both offices said they will work to set up a time to discuss this topic further. KXAN will update this article if a response is received.
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