ROCKLIN, Calif. — Three people, including a 14-year-old, were arrested after they smashed the windows of at least 75 cars early Sunday morning and tried using a stolen credit card, Rocklin Police officials said.
The damage to some of the dozens of cars can still be seen in apartment complexes where vehicles were broken into. Adam Schilling, one of the victims of burglaries, told ABC10 that he caught the alleged burglars in the act.
"I woke up to some loud noises," Schilling recalled. "I looked out my window and saw two guys in the parking lot. Once I saw them hit my car, I yelled out the window at them, 'Hey get out of here.'"
Schilling says he ran after them, but they got away.
Rocklin Police later arrested three people — Mia Gonzalez, 18, Larry Smith, 20, and an unidentified 14-year-old — after they tried using a credit card that was stolen from one of the cars. The three of them face charges of vehicle burglary, conspiracy to commit a crime and using a stolen credit card.
Now, Schilling and the others burglary victims are dealing with the aftermath.
"They go through and they do all this, and usually insurance — the deductibles are so high, and it doesn’t cover the cost," Schilling said. "Any of this damage is out of the pocket."
Ron Schultz, who owns Infinity Auto Glass in Sacramento, told ABC10 that he’s gotten several calls since Sunday from victims needing their windows fixed.
"Sometimes you see runs of like 10 or 20 [break ins]," Schultz said, "Seventy-five, that’s just an amazing amount of windows to be broken all in one run."
Unfortunately, this is nothing new for Placer County.
In late November, dozens of cars were broken into in Roseville neighborhoods. And In mid-December, several other cars had windows busted in a restaurant’s parking lot near the Galleria at Roseville.
"I hope it’s not a trend that continues," said Rocklin Police Lt. Scott Horillo from the Rocklin Police. "Obviously, it’s detrimental to people who lost a window and other property, and it’s very time consuming for us to document all these crimes."
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