NEW ORLEANS — A rash of car break-ins have window repairs in progress across New Orleans.
The city crime map shows that in just the last week, there have been 114 reports of vehicle break-ins and theft.
Eric Wilde, a resident at the Esplanade at City Park Apartments, is one of 21 people who woke up Wednesday to find his car window bashed in.
"It looks like they had crawled inside there, had rifled through the back seat, all the front glove box," Wilde said, standing in front of his freshly-repaired Chevy Colorado. "I had tools in there, I had kind of a cargo net, a few random things. Nothing of value, but they didn't take any of it."
New Orleans Police say the break-ins happened just after midnight in the gated complex's parking lots. At least one person broke into 22 cars, smashing 21 windows to get inside.
While many residents discovered the damage on their way to work, others were notified by the building.
"I don't keep anything of value in my car," said Mike Garvey, who has lived in the building for four years. He says this isn't the first time cars have been broken into in the parking lot, but he can't remember this many incidents at once.
"Oftentimes, it's one or two cars," Garvey said.
In Algiers over the weekend, another instance of car break-ins turned violent.
Surveillance video released by NOPD shows four suspects driving around in a stolen vehicle, rifling through cars, and when caught by a homeowner, someone fires two gunshots.
Police are still searching for suspects and information in that case, and haven't said if it is connected to the break-ins in Mid-City.
In light of these break-ins, NOPD is reminding people to lock their cars, remove valuables, and never keep firearms or other weapons inside parked cars.