The Santa Barbara Police Department is investigating a string of car burglaries that occurred in the Mesa neighborhood late Sunday night into the early hours of Monday morning.
Police Sgt. Riley Harwood said that law enforcement is investigating about 20 cases in the area around Shoreline Drive.
Most of the burglarized cars were unlocked, he said, though a couple were broken into. The burglarized cars were both parked out on the street and in the driveway of homes.
“These crooks will just go down the street checking every door handle,” Harwood said.
The calls reporting the break-ins to the police department came in Monday morning as residents were getting ready for the day and realized what had happened.
“We urge people not to store valuables in their cars,” Harwood said.
Wallets, purses, phones, laptops, and other electronic items are popular targets and if necessary to keep those areas in cars, they should be left out of view and doors should be locked, he said.
While car burglaries are not unusual in Santa Barbara and come in groups, there has been an uptick recently, according to police.
No particular neighborhood in the city is immune from this type of crime, Harwood said, but the 20 Mesa neighborhood burglaries was a significant number for a single night.
The burglaries are still under investigation by the police department.
— Noozhawk staff writer Sam Goldman can be reached at sgoldman@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.