CALDWELL COUNTY, N.C. — Caldwell County deputies are stepping up patrols in several neighbors south of Lenoir after a string of robberies.
Deputies say someone is breaking into cars and stealing Christmas decorations from people’s yards.
Brooke Soesbee says knew right away when she opened the door to her pickup truck that someone had broken into it while she was asleep. The inside was a mess and some items were thrown out in her yard.
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“To come into a cul-de-sac, to see people who work hard and do what they need to do and to just take stuff for no reason, it’s ridiculous,” Soesbee told Channel 9′s Dave Faherty.
Another woman says someone took two student Chromebooks out of her van and the school district says she will have to pay to have the devices replaced.
“I just think it’s wrong. These are hard-working people. Don’t take our things,” she told Faherty.
One man who lives in the neighborhood showed Channel 9 surveillance video of the thief going through his vehicles.
“I’ve never seen it happen in my neighborhood,” Nauro Ortiz said.
Investigators say they know of eight homes so far that were hit in the Baton community south of Lenoir.
They are hoping to identify a suspect.
“It’s not a good idea for anybody to do that because everybody around has guns now,” said Dwight Stillwell. “If they catch someone it could be just a quick reaction … that’s all it would take.”
Deputies are urging residents to not leave anything valuable inside their cars and to lock their car doors.
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