LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) – Brazen car break-ins in quiet towns like Mt. Washington have neighbors on edge and police on the lookout for suspects, some of those believed to be armed.
“We didn’t realize anything had happened until my husband got up to leave for work and my car was not in the garage,” said Jennifer Barnhouse, who became a victim of a car theft in the hilly city of Mt. Washington early Friday morning.
“They had opened up my husband’s truck and got the garage door opener and opened up the garage,” explained Barnhouse. “One night that he rarely has done that. They just happened to get lucky.”
A whole Mercedes kind of lucky. The group of carjackers did not just take what they could find in the unlocked truck. Once they opened the garage door, they drove off in Barnhouse’s car, making a $46 pit stop at a nearby McDonald’s and $72 spending spree at a gas station on Barnhouse’s dime.
Barnhouse said she spent Friday morning picking up things dumped from her car throughout her neighborhood. It would not be much longer until she would track down her car, too, locked and sitting in Louisville’s Russell neighborhood.
“It’s a little unnerving. I mean, you think things like that couldn’t happen in this neighborhood,” said Barnhouse. “But you’re a little creeped out knowing someone has been in our garage and in your car going through your things.”
Several homes in Bullitt County’s Kingswood neighborhood had vehicles ransacked just a few minutes later, in one case, even entering the garage of a home. Strangely, though, the suspects took nothing.
The recent break-ins have made it to police social media pages, and it is clear Mt. Washington residents are not alone .
The Spencer County Sheriff’s Office reported another stolen vehicle earlier in the week, later recovered by police in Louisville, along with several stolen items out of Oldham County.
However, the most unsettling notice of all has come from Mt. Washington Police, who have warned that security video from surrounding jurisdictions have been committed by armed suspects.
The recent series of break-ins have police and Barnhouse once again asking residents to keep valuables inside and car doors locked.
“Keep your car doors locked, all your belongings in the house. I know I keep my purse in the car, but that’s not even safe,” emphasized Barnhouse. “So make sure you take it in the house.”
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