Arrests made in Carolina Beach car break-ins

More than two dozen cars have been broken into over the past two weeks. Eleven last night alone in a series of burglaries in Carolina Beach.

There is an apparent break in that case today.

Five men are in custody tonight following the break in of 27 cars.

Eleven convertibles just last night, and police say the suspects simply took a knife and cut a big hole out of the car tops.

Robert Astraikis, whose car was broken into, said, “About 7:15 this morning, I came out to get the paper, and I saw that the top of my convertible was cut open. I looked inside, and saw that someone had ripped out the radio.”

A half hour before that, police say the suspects were busy doing the same thing just across town.

Another victim, Tammy Hunt, said, “I was in the shower this morning, my husband gets a knock at the door, he comes back through to say that the police were at the house, and both of our convertibles had been cut through.”

Carolina Beach Police Chief William Younginer said, “They did cut some rag tops, and convertible tops on some expensive cars. And some of them they didn’t even take anything out of. So they’ve done quite a bit of damage just this morning.”

Five suspects are in custody and are being charged with the break-ins. All are men from Fayetteville.

One suspect is fifteen years old, he’ll be charged as a minor, and the rest will be charged as adults. Police say they’ve found the stolen goods in the car in which the suspects were traveling.

Carolina Beach police Lt. Bill Goodson said, “Do not leave anything of value in your vehicle. And that includes Ray Ban sunglasses, as available as they are, people will steal them. Put things in your trunk. Lock your cars.”