CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Thieves ripped into and ransacked nine cars outside the University Club Apartments early Sunday morning.

It all happened in a four-hour period, police said.

The crime spree happened just as police started a new campaign to crack down on car thieves in University City. Charlotte-Mecklenburg police started extra patrols Monday, targeting hot spot, and University of North Carolina at Charlotte police went around campus reminding students to remove valuables from their parked cars.

The school also sent out e-mail alerts.

The crackdown came too late for Matt Homjak. He was visiting his girlfriend at University Club Apartments and parked on Thomas Combs Drive.

"From what it looked like, (the thief) just kind of elbowed in, reached around and opened the back door. The CD player is completely taken out. The dash was taken off and everything. And my glove box was open and the GPS is missing. The Playstation portable is missing," Homjak said.

He said the thief or thieves got away with $1,500 in goods despite the fact everything was out of sight.

Homjak was one of nine people who parked on Thomas Combs Drive who had their cars broken into. Mikeisha Allen was getting ready to move her car from Thomas Combs Drive after she saw the shards of glass that littered the street.

“It's different seeing it though, compare to hearing about it,” she said. “So it makes me more nervous. I can see the break-in."

University Club Apartments is one of 52 complexes that surround UNCC. Charlotte-Mecklenburg police have a special unit dedicated to patrolling the complexes and they get help from on campus police.

Lt. Jeff Muholland said, "When we have a drastic increase in car break-ins, we send out alerts to make students aware."

Police also start targeting students as soon as freshman orientation to let them know that you have to remove valuables from your car.

Muholland said, "The quicker we get the word out, the better we can get everyone on the same program, and hopefully we can reduce this."