- Multiple neighbors had cars broken into early Thursday in Northwest Tallahassee.
- The Leon County Sheriff's Office is investigating.
- Watch the video above to hear from one neighbor who had a passport and other items that were stolen.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
People in Tallahassee targeted overnight in a string of car break-ins. I'm Terry Gilliam in the Northwest Tallahassee neighborhood. Families are on high alert as deputies search for those responsible.
"I looked at him and said (what is it?) And he said your car was broken into!” That's not the news Brooke Cloak expected to hear as she started her Thursday morning. Cloak lives in the gated Arbor Landing neighborhbood near Lake Jackson off North Monroe Street.
With Thursday night's car break-in, their passports, I.D., credit cards, and other personal items are now gone. Cloak and her boyfriend were set to catch a flight for vacation. That trip is grounded for now.
"It's sad,” Cloak added. “We went downstairs this morning, and we noticed that things were moved around in the car, it was obvious someone had been in there."
The Leon County Sheriff's Office said the department is working 15 car break-in cases. At least one car was stolen, and in another case a firearm was also taken.
I met with Sgt. Dave Teems at the sheriff's office to talk about this string of break-ins.
"A lot of times you see this where they go around pulling on door handles," Sgt. Teems explained.
As for finding those responsible, Teems says the first step is timing out what happened overnight. Sgt. Teems told me, "this all started about 1:30 this (Thursday) morning. We started getting phone calls from victims. Over the next few hours, we continued to get stuff going though. As of right now, we're still in active investigation."
While Cloak is trying to stay positive, she says the thought of a firearm being taken is still concerning. "We're somewhere now where people do own guns; people have guns in their car…just to know that someone out there right now that could have something which such force is a little scary to think about!"
The sheriff's office says what happened here is another reminder of the importance of making sure you lock your doors, especially if you keep your firearm in your vehicle. If you have video of anything that happened in your neighborhood, the sheriff's office is asking for those videos.
