Guests staying at a Homewood Suites in Stone Oak have been waking up to shattered glass in the parking lot for more than a week, with San Antonio police confirming they've responded to the hotel 13 times since Aug. 8 for reports of vehicle burglaries and criminal mischief. One traveler, in San Antonio for a doctor's appointment, ended up paying $700 to replace her vehicle's windows after a weekend break-in — nearly $200 more than the $500 she'd spent to stay three nights.
That guest, Brenda Drgac, told KSAT that an officer suggested the burglars may have been searching for firearms stashed inside vehicles. She left her police report on her dashboard afterward, hoping it would signal to would-be thieves that her vehicle had already been hit. Her husband wants to leave the hotel altogether, and Drgac said she's now worried her vehicle could be targeted again before they check out after her appointment.
She isn't the only one. Guest Jake Knies said he has repeatedly seen broken glass scattered across the parking lot along with other guests dealing with the aftermath of break-ins. “I always come out the next morning with glass on the ground, windows shattered,” Knies said, estimating that about 18 vehicles had their windows broken over the course of the weekend alone.
Police Say Calls Have Piled Up Since Early August
According to police records cited by the station, San Antonio police have responded to the Homewood Suites by Hilton San Antonio North 13 times since Aug. 8 for reports of vehicle burglaries and criminal mischief, with the department confirming it received multiple calls about incidents at the hotel over the weekend. The hotel sits near Loop 1604 and Stone Oak Parkway, a stretch of the North Side that has drawn other public safety attention this year — including a shooting in May in which a driver was shot in the torso while leaving a commercial parking lot on the 22000 block of Stone Oak Parkway, as Hoodline reported. Police have not publicly identified any suspects connected to the reported burglaries at the hotel.
The hotel's general manager said vehicle burglaries and thefts have become increasingly common in the area, and the property said it plans to provide restitution to guests for the inconvenience they experienced. Homewood Suites is also cooperating with the San Antonio Police Department to apprehend and prosecute those responsible, according to the hotel. Guests, meanwhile, say they're anxious about their vehicles and are looking for somewhere else to stay.
Why Hotel Parking Lots Keep Getting Hit
The spree fits a pattern researchers have already documented across San Antonio. A study from UTHealth Houston conducted with the San Antonio Police Department found that 2,465 firearms were reported stolen from vehicles citywide in 2024 — nearly seven guns a day — and that break-ins cluster heavily along corridors like Interstate 410, Interstate 35 and North Side commercial hubs including Stone Oak, La Cantera and The Rim. Separate research published in PubMed Central, analyzing 2024 SAPD crime records, found hotel parking lots were the single most frequent location for these thefts, accounting for nearly a quarter of all reported incidents.
Pickup trucks and SUVs appear to be favored targets. Local reporting by KENS 5 found pickups accounted for nearly 70 percent of vehicles targeted for firearm thefts in the city, with handguns making up more than 92 percent of stolen weapons — a pattern consistent with the officer's suggestion to Drgac that thieves were hunting for guns rather than random valuables. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas has warned that thieves in retail and hotel lots can smash a window, burglarize a vehicle and flee in 15 seconds or less, often profiling vehicles with military, law enforcement or firearm-related decals.
Legal Exposure on Both Sides
Under Texas Penal Code § 30.04, burglary of a vehicle is generally a Class A misdemeanor carrying up to a year in county jail and a $4,000 fine, though repeat offenses can elevate the charge to a state jail felony. Texas lawmakers have pushed to toughen those penalties specifically for gun-motivated break-ins; Senate Bill 1166 sought to make vehicle burglary a third-degree felony when someone enters a car with the specific intent to steal a firearm.
Hotels face their own legal exposure in cases like this. Under Texas premises liability law, guests are classified as invitees, which imposes the highest legal duty of care on property owners to maintain safe parking environments and address foreseeable security risks. San Antonio Police Department detectives have separately warned of seasonal spikes in car burglaries each summer, noting that organized thieves increasingly target handguns, cash and electronics rather than loose items left in plain sight.
The Homewood Suites break-ins also echo other recent San Antonio hotel and vehicle crime sprees. In June, guests at a North Side hotel woke to a parking lot glass storm after a similar mass break-in, and in May, armed teens were arrested following an early-morning car burglary spree that ended in a truck crash on the Far West Side. For now, guests at the Stone Oak Homewood Suites are left weighing repair bills, restitution promises and the question of whether to stay another night.
