CLEVELAND — Residents at the Brick Lofts at Historic West Tech Apartments near West 93rd Street and Willard Avenue are still on high alert after a string of car break-ins over the past year.
New video from Cleveland police shows two people on Sept. 27 breaking into more than 30 cars in the complex’s parking lot and around the perimeter.
William Harris, a renter at the apartment complex said, until those two are arrested, he thinks it will happen again.
“3 times my car windows have been broken out,” he said. “
He’s not alone.
“They took stuff out of my glove compartment and they broke both windows in the passenger and driver side,” said Alexander Garret, another resident.
Garret spent $600 to replace those windows.
“I cannot afford another break-in.”
While it has been a relatively quiet month since the break-ins, Harris said he still feels uneasy.
“I keep my car out in the front now and I watch it out of my bedroom window,” he said. “I don’t sleep well.”
Garret said he doesn’t leave anything valuable in his car.
“I know some residents have actually unlocked their cars at night so if some people do get in, they don’t get broken into with their windows,” he said.
Since the Sept. 27, break-ins, the apartment management has hired part-time security, but one resident said she still doesn’t think management did enough.
“It’s limited hours,” she said. “They could do more. If I could see their presence more in the nighttime that would help, too.”
Harris said he’s seen little to no increased police presence.
“If we could only get more protection from the police,” he said. “Anything that would keep them rolling up and down the street.”
They’re still worried every time they turn in for the night, their cars will get broken into.
“You don’t feel comfortable to park your car around the parking complex because there’s always something happening,” said a renter who wished to remain unidentified.
Cleveland police did not respond to our request for comment.
