GREENE COUNTY, Mo. — A series of car break-ins has the Greene County Sheriff’s Office on high alert and this isn’t the first time thieves have targeted a specific area of town.

Two months ago, deputies received word that thieves were going around on the west side of Greene County and taking firearms.

However, just in the last week, deputies have received a spike in car break-ins in the northeast part of the county. 

“They are going to neighborhoods and subdivisions and pulling on door handles and busting outdoor windows and just doing the classic smash and grab and grabbing whatever they can,” said Greene County Deputy Paige Rippee.

She says this time around, thieves are stealing credit cards, cash and even taking some garage door openers and returning to the house later.

“Usually, sometimes in a small division or even a larger sub-division, there’s a group of people who either drive and a couple of them will get out and walk the entire sub-division or checking every car door handle they come across,“ said Rippee.

Deputy Rippee says if you’ve had your car broken into, home surveillance cameras like Ring or Vivent are great tools to have to help them solve these cases.