Rash of vehicle break-ins, thefts hits Crestview

This is a screen capture from a video that shows car break-in and robbery suspects in south Crestview on Thursday night.

CRESTVIEW — Home security footage shows a group of six men who allegedly broke into six or seven vehicles and stole two vehicles on Thursday night in south Crestview.

The first video appears to show a group of five men get out of a large, four-door white truck and one man walk behind them. The second video shows members of that same group jogging back to the truck 15 minutes later.

At least some of the incidents occurred in the area around Villacrest Drive.

“We did have a rash of vehicle break-ins that suddenly occurred,” said Major Andrew Schneider of the Crestview Police Department. “All of these were unsecured vehicles, and we’re asking the public that if anybody has any information on who was involved to contact our agency.”

Schneider said the Police Department has been running a campaign on Facebook called the “9 p.m. Routine” that asks people to go outside and lock their vehicles and take out anything of value they may have in their cars on a nightly basis.

At least one of the incidents in this case occurred between 9:50 p.m. and 10:05 p.m.

“We’ve been advertising for the (9 p.m.) campaign pretty heavily,” Schneider said. “We ask that people take out anything of value to make it less attractive to break-ins.”

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Rash of vehicle break-ins, thefts hits Crestview