Lake Highlands

Lake Highlands Neighborhood Hit by Car Burglar

Pellet gun vandals first shot out car windows in the Merriman Park neighborhood in Lake Highlands and now a thief is making the rounds breaking into cars.

Monday night a thief was caught on surveillance video carrying a stolen purse and trying to break into a car.

"It's devastating to think they were that close to hurting my family," said victim Rose Self. "It's horrifying. It's devastating. They could have walked in my door. That's what scares me the most."

Police said the thief went through the alley behind Self's house and after getting into her car kept going into other cars.

"We woke up in the morning, [and] I had a panic thinking, 'Oh, my gosh, I think I left my purse in the car last night.' And we went out to the car and sure enough, my purse was stolen," said Self.

In the video the thief appears to be wearing sports gloves, making it tough for investigators to get fingerprints.

The break-ins come weeks after pellet gun vandals shot out windows of several cars in that same neighborhood.

While money, credit cards and phones can be replaced, the thief took some belongings that can't ever be replaced.

"The gift my daughter had given me was in the purse, and pictures on my phone from our trip to D.C. were on that. Those are the only things I really do care about," Self said.

There has been an increase in the amount of patrols in the neighborhood watching out for the criminals.

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