Austin citizens are clamoring for action as a plague of vehicular vandalism and thefts terrorizes neighborhoods across the city, with South Austin having the dubious distinction of bearing the brunt of this criminal onslaught. In a string of incidents that seem ripped straight from a screenplay, residents like Landon Ray have been repeated victims; Ray's vehicle was broken into twice, including a brazen occurrence where thieves shattered his SUV windows along with several of his neighbors' at The Preserve at Travis Creek apartments as reported to KVUE.
The break-ins don't seem to discriminate, targeting anyone within the thief's line of sight. Juveniles are often the face behind the petty thefts, and tools are stripped from trucks, as happened with Doug Peterson from Oak Hill according to a KXAN report. Yet amid the surge, the Austin Police Department grapples with a case backlog and a longing for more detectives to staunch the tide. Alarmingly, from January to May of this year, auto thefts in Austin soared by 23%, with South Austin witnessing 439 thefts—an 84% leap from last year's figure.
Ray's frustration is palpable, reflecting the grim reality of a community feeling neglected by those sworn to protect it. "They just decided to break my window and then they didn't get what they were looking for, which I assume is guns," Ray told KVUE. In a crush of disappointment with the system, he has decided against filing a police report for the most recent break-in because he sees it as a futile chore.
While specific models like Hyundais and Kias are snatched at an alarming rate, as Detective Julian Ogle with the APD's auto theft interdiction unit acknowledges, families and children all over with police cars patrolling are feeling the pinch. In fact, areas like Charlie Sector in East Austin saw auto thefts jump an astonishing 80% this year. An increase in patrol has been suggested as a cure, with Ogle remarking to KXAN, "I imagine with more patrolmen saturating the area, that is probably going to translate to more vehicles being recovered."
