San Mateo Police Step Up Patrols After Rash of Vehicle Break-Ins
SAN MATEO (CBS SF) -- San Mateo police are investigating a rash of auto burglaries that occurred early Saturday morning on the west side of the city, officers said.
The burglaries, discovered early Saturday, took place in the general areas west of Alameda de las Pulgas to Campus Drive and south of 28th Avenue to Hillsdale Boulevard. The number of vehicles was described by police Saturday simply as "many"; more specific numbers were not available Saturday night.
Most of the vehicles sustained smashed windows, while a few were burglarized simply by opening unlocked doors, police said.
Bill Walters lives in the area and knows what it feels like to find broken glass covering the upholstery in the morning.
"It's mostly a feeling of anger. I didn't feel like I was violated. I just felt very angry. I think our police are doing as good a job as they can."
San Mateo police have increased what they termed "high visibility" patrols in the areas where the break-ins occurred, officers said.
Police suggested following the basic rules to help prevent vehicle break-ins: lock all vehicle doors, leave nothing valuable in the vehicle and install surveillance cameras near where your vehicles are parked at home.
"You can't stand in your driveway all night. We have cameras and we leave the lights on and the neighbors are always observant. But that's never really going to prevent everything. You wish it would but it doesn't," said San Mateo resident Ron DiMaggio.
© 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. KPIX correspondent Devin Fehely and Bay City News Service contributed to this report