NEW ORLEANS — It's a Friday night, and a New Orleans Pelicans game just finished, fans returning to their cars hoping and praying their car wasn't broken into.
It comes after a string of break-ins by the Smoothie King Center.
New Orleanians love sports, but that love is being usurped by the possibility of returning to your car and finding it broken into.
Jarvion Gould, a resident and fan, said, “It's three to five cars, seven to 10 cars being broken into, valuables being stolen, guns, money, anything they can find.”
Dozens of cars in a parking lot near the Smoothie King Center were burglarized during a Pels game Wednesday, and that’s in the back of many fan's minds as they park their cars before heading to the game tonight.
Gould said, “My vehicle should be safe with them there.”
Eyewitness News saw NOPD patrolling some of the surface lots around the Smoothie King Center.
Fans coming to the Smoothie King Center or the Super Dome tend to park on the street simply because It's free. The second best option is surface lots. However, they are very dark, and not a single light is installed.
NOPD Chief Deputy Superintendent Hans Ganthier says, "If a parking lot is not well-lit, I suggest you find one that has security is well-lit that you can get to and where people walking can see what's going on in that parking lot."
Ganthier says the department has a plan to stop the car break-ins happening during Pelicans games, working with analytics to determine where exactly the break-ins are happening so they can direct patrol.
"We will use a lot of overtime for that. We have offered overtime for that. I know the eighth district detectives are working on an overtime basis our patrol officers that are working that a lot of them will be on overtime however we have directed some of our normal patrols if they’re not on call to be on some of those locations as well," he said.
Gould says, “They need to remain here the entire time, from start to finish. Not sit in one spot, actually drive around. If there’s any suspicious behavior, they should be checking it out.”