Car break-in after car break-in Tuesday morning is leaving some Tremont residents feeling uneasy. More than 35 cars were broken into with their windows smashed. Victims and residents want the criminals to get out of the neighborhood.
It was a typical Tuesday morning for Morgan Passek.
“I got ready for work and packed up my bag, and headed out the door,” Passek said.
Then she saw her car.
“They smashed in my driver's side door, and looks like they tried to pry off my mirror,” Passek said.
She’s one of 37 victims who had their car broken into in Tremont. The break-ins happened across the neighborhood but mostly between West 5th Street and Jefferson Avenue.
“They riffled through my glove box and really just made a mess of everything, and really, the streets were telling of it all too; there was glass everywhere,” Passek said.
Cleveland Police reports indicate a white Kia Optima and a black Kia were seen in the area damaging cars. A viewer sent News 5 security footage of two suspicious people outside his home at the time of the break-ins.
“I was lucky,” said Jamelle Lee.
Lee's car wasn’t hit, but he said the string of crimes is hitting too close to home.
“It’s unacceptable because none of the people in the area are doing it,” said Lee. “None of the people paying rent here or owning homes, I know they didn’t do that. So, it’s sort of devastating knowing someone would come into your neighborhood where you live.”
Passek tells News 5 that, unfortunately, she thinks this type of crime just comes with the territory of living closer to the city.
“It wasn’t that surprising that this happened; I think it was just the shock that it happened to many different cars within the neighborhood,” Passek added.
CPD is still investigating, and no arrests have been made yet, but in the meantime, Lee wants to see more from law enforcement.
“We don’t see it much because we normally don’t have much crime in the area, or at least incidents of that nature, but starting now, I'd like to see more presence,” added Lee.
Anyone with information is asked to call police at 216-621-1234.
