Tuesday night marked the third violent carjacking in Lakewood in just five days and residents in the city are now on edge.
Some of the victims told News 5 Wednesday they feel like they're being targeted.
Last Thursday around 5:30 p.m. officers were called to the Aldi's on West 117th Street after a man said his keys were forcibly taken and his car was stolen.
Then, on Monday, a man reported that his vehicle was stolen in the parking lot of Marc's off Detroit Avenue.
Tuesday night around 10 p.m., a woman called police saying her vehicle had been taken at gunpoint at The Drake/Fry/Overlook Apartments on Clifton Blvd.
One resident — Amanda Lauter — is now paying close attention to the crime trend after her car was broken into, hot-wired and stolen from her family neighborhood.
After the latest carjackings, she's more concerned then ever.
"One of them was where I work, the Marc's plaza," she said. "After all these cars were stolen, they were like, 'hey it's open season. We are going to ramp up our ante.'"
The woman who was carjacked Tuesday night was close in age to Lauter.
She called 911, telling dispatchers she was robbed and they took her Nissan.
Lakewood police chief Edward Hassing said that the city prides itself on being safe, and this isn't something that typically happens very often.
"Generally, we are very successful in making arrests and solving these crimes," he said.
Hassing said they've already found two of the cars stolen in the past week. Now the focus is finding the people who stole them.
"We are out there, we have a very good presence in the community," he said.
So, Lakewood residents, what can you do?
Hassing said be vigilant, be aware and call police if you see anything suspicious. He said they've increased patrol and are currently working with surrounding departments, confident they'll catch the thieves behind the crimes.
