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Home surveillance video catches people trying to break into cars in Ballantyne

CHARLOTTE — Neighbors in Ballantyne caught people going car to car over the weekend looking for items to steal.

People living in several different neighborhoods saw similar scenes after checking their home surveillances videos.

It’s become a common theme across Charlotte -- thieves walking up to cars and shaking on the door handles to see if they can get inside.

Channel 9′s Almiya White spoke with one neighbor who said she’s just thankful it was all caught on camera.

“It was alarming because in the video, it clearly shows the individual noticing the camera,” Lauri Clements said.

She is referring to video that shows someone in her driveway approaching both cars and trying to break inside. It happened Saturday around 5 a.m. off Ardrey Woods Drive.

Clements says an attempted break-in is not the sole reason why she is on edge.

“A handgun out in his possession. You can see the handgun move behind his back. As you can go frame by frame and slow down and zoom in,” she said.

After talking with neighbors, she realized she wasn’t the only target. Clements shared multiple video clips capturing what appears to be the same person going after other cars along Ardrey Woods Drive.

But it didn’t stop there.

“Others have shared that it happened in the neighborhood adjacent. The same morning,” she said.

Just a few blocks away, a camera on Auburn Place captured a similar incident -- and so did a camera on Landen Meadows. Both neighborhoods are near Ardrey Woods Drive.

“They know what they’re looking for,” Clements said. “I do feel as if this incident is probably not the first time.”

Clements is now encouraging people in her community to speak up when they see something.

“I think it’s important that we let our law enforcement know of actions that have occurred,” she said.

(WATCH BELOW: Couple whose home was damaged during Ballantyne house explosion sues State Farm)


Almiya White

Almiya White, wsoctv.com

Almiya White is a reporter for WSOC-TV