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Burglars smash around 30 car windows in West Palm Beach neighborhood

Posted at 5:50 PM, Dec 09, 2016
and last updated 2016-12-09 18:50:12-05

Dozens of people in the Palm Beach Grande and Palm Beach Place condominium complexes headed out of their homes Friday morning to discover someone had smashed the windows out of their cars.

"I was very upset," said Kenny Selvious, who lives in Palm Beach Grande, "Because I've never seen something like that before."

The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office says about 30 cars were broken into in the two complexes.

Residents say their condo association isn't taking responsibility, and in some cases, neither is insurance. Each vehicle owner is looking at hundreds of dollars worth of damage.

"I have to pay," said Brian Hull, who also lives in Palm Beach Grande, "I called the insurance and they're not covering it."

Some victims lost belongings that had been locked in their cars.

Hull says he and his neighbors are most upset, however, that no one caught what was going on over night.

A sign in the parking lot warns that the complex has surveillance cameras in use, but PBSO did not get any surveillance footage to aid in the investigation.

Residents in Palm Beach Grande say they also pay HOA fees that are supposed to include a fee for overnight security. No security personnel caught the break-ins, however.

"For no security guards to see it and nobody to wake and see it, I  mean that's a lot of vehicles," Hull said. "Three o'clock in the morning, I figure an alarm would go off, or the sound of shattering windows would wake somebody or startle somebody. I'm very disappointed that the cameras weren't on to catch these people."

PBSO says deputies want to find the car burglars who are responsible. Deputies need help from the public, and they ask that anyone who sees anything suspicious in a neighborhood in the late night or early morning hours call 911 immediately.

In the meantime, deputies warn vehicle owners not to leave any valuables inside a car. They say it's especially important not to leave anything in plain sight, because it could entice the criminals to break in.