x
Breaking News
More () »

A group of people is stealing Christmas decorations and attempting to open cars in southeast Austin, according to neighbors

Neighbors believe the incidents happened sometime between late Sunday night and early Monday morning.

AUSTIN, Texas — Neighbors in the Easton Park neighborhood in southeast Austin said a group of thieves went to multiple homes and stole Christmas decorations and attempted to open cars. 

The neighbors believe the thefts happened sometime late Sunday night into early Monday morning. 

The surveillance video below shows the group neighbors believe did this as they ran away.

VIDEO: Surveillance video shows group that neighbors say steals Christmas decorations 

This video shows a person attempting to open a car in the neighborhood. 

VIDEO: Ring video shows group that neighbors say steals Christmas decorations 

“I woke up in the morning and my inflatable Minion was gone. He was wearing a Santa hat and he kind of just disappeared overnight," Lucas Pagan said.

Pagan said other neighbors had the same thing happen to their Christmas decorations and that, in some cases, cars were also opened. 

"I think down the street there was an ornament that was taken off and broken ... There was a small tree and a sign and a handful of other things throughout the neighborhood," Pagan said. "Cars that were broken into that were left unlocked, things like that." 

Just down the road, Tyler Rodriguez said this is not the first time this has happened in the neighborhood. 

“This has happened throughout the last year, multiple times," Rodriguez said. "If they were locked, they weren’t breaking windows or anything but it's something that happens pretty often.”

Rodriguez is hoping that more patrolling will happen in the neighborhood. 

“At least just stop the issue from continuing because where does it end, you know?" Rodriguez said.

RELATED: 

4 minors, 2 adults arrested in connection to San Marcos murder

Wheel thieves targeting cars in San Marcos

In a different part of the neighborhood, Alex Acosta said he's had issues with people attempting to steal things in the neighborhood for a while now. 

“Ever since I moved in – I think it was the second week in the house – a group of people tried to break in too and steal my vehicle, and that’s what prompted me to put up the security cameras and the floodlights as well," Acosta said. "These people see easy things in the lawn that they can kind of just pick up and run away with."

He said he's seen this happen on a monthly basis. 

“At the end of the day, this is our homes and I don’t feel like we should kind of have to be in that feeling on constantly protecting ourselves," Acosta said. 

Some of the neighbors told KVUE they filed reports with the Travis County Sheriff's Office

Austin police said car burglaries typically spike during the holidays so they're promoting their "Lock It or Lose It" campaign, reminding drivers to lock car doors, even if they're stepping away for just a second. 

PEOPLE ARE ALSO READING:

Tragic death of Round Rock toddler sparks new movement against distracted driving

Back to the Future: What did experts in 1980 think Austin would look like in the future?

Austin-based Unicorn Rides scooter company goes bankrupt

Woman gets 35 years in connection to 2014 fatal shooting in Round Rock

Before You Leave, Check This Out