West Little Rock car break-ins

LITTLE ROCK, AR - A recent rash of car break-ins in West Little Rock has police reminding people not to leave valuables in their vehicles.

Dozens of people reported car break-ins at several different apartment complexes off Green Mountain Drive, and Hinson Loop Road over the last few days.

Little Rock Police say thieves are targeting highly populated areas, even gated communities where a lot of cars are parked with the potential of finding a lot of valuable items inside.

Sangita Parida says Thursday night her husband parked the car in front of their apartment and carried a cake inside, but forgot his bag in the car. "We had our passport, our social security card, iPod, iPad, so many other electronic items and most important our Indian documents. To retrieve those is a real hassle. I don't know if we can get it back or not."

Parida says it happened in just a matter of hours. Glass still glistens on the ground from when someone broke out the back window of their car. "We'll fix the window, that's not it. We can't get our documents back."

She says everything they value is gone, and Little Rock Police say it's highly unlikely any of their valuables will be recovered. Sgt. Cassandra Davis with the Little Rock Police Department says the Parida's are just one of many car break-ins reported. "It's not unusual. It's unfortunate, but not unusual to see 3 or 4 car break-ins at an apartment complex."

Kevin Copeland at Discount Auto Glass says they see roughly 50 car replacement windows due to break-ins a week. "Most of them are $150 and below to fix and that includes clean up, so it's as reasonable as it can be for something so senseless."

Parida says it's not about the money to fix the window or the electronics. Replacing their identification documents will take months and the threat if identity theft could last a lifetime.

Little Rock Police say other than the obvious, which is don't leave valuables in the car, tinted windows are a deterrent for thieves. If they can't see what's inside your car, chances are they'll move on to another vehicle.