The burglars only got away with Chris Rodriguez’s 10-month-old son’s Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer toy, but while he prepares to celebrate peace on Earth, he’s left with a loss of peace of mind.
“I feel a little invasion of privacy,” Rodriguez said. “That’s my vehicle. I’m supposed to be the one to make sure these kids are safe. Now the children are worried about who’s going through their vehicle at night.”
The security cameras Rodriguez installed at his home on Robina Lane in Corpus Christi two years ago captured two burglars going through his wife’s unlocked car around 1:15 a.m. today. They only left with that $10 toy. Rodriguez says they missed $120 in cash, electronics, and jewelry that were also in the car.
“A stupid crook is a stupid crook,” Rodriquez said.
Theft from unlocked vehicles is a common crime in Corpus Christi. The grand administrator for the police department’s Auto Theft Task Force Melissa Castro says, out of all thefts from cars, 62-percent of the time the vehicles are unlocked.
“It’s a crime of opportunity,” Castro said. “They’re going to look for that open target of an open vehicle.”
Rodriguez is showing video of the burglary of his wife’s car to as many people as possible in hopes that someone will recognize the thieves. He’s also contemplating what would have happened if he’d woken up and caught the burglars in the act.
“Let’s just say it’s a good thing that I didn’t catch them, because I don’t know how I would have acted,” Rodriguez said. “I’ve got a 90 pound German Shepherd in the back that I probably would have let him loose first. I’d do anything to protect my family.”
