Several dozen car break-ins reported around Wilmington over past two weeks

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Car break-ins have been on the rise over the past couple of weeks around New Hanover County.

The Cypress Island community is the most recent neighborhood to be visited by thieves.

The break-ins have occurred in the overnight hours while neighbors slept. The most common complaint has been electronics and other valuable items stolen from cars. But there have also been reports of cars being stolen as well.

New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office says all of the incidents have been with unlocked cars. But Lieutenant Jerry Brewer says there’s a simple thing you can do to protect your vehicle.

“They just go through neighborhoods pulling on doors at night,” Brewer said. “They steal out what they can from the cars that are unlocked. We’ve had over 50 in the last couple of weeks, so there’s a lot of unlocked cars. That is the main thing we can do to stop this is just lock your vehicle.”

Brewer adds that if everyone would remember to check their car locks at night, the number of break-ins would decline drastically.