Motor vehicle burglary

 

THE VICTIM: Cathy McCoppin

DATE: Tuesday, Feb. 20, and Sunday, Feb. 25

TIME: Between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m.

PLACE: 4000 block of Crown Shore

 

Cathy McCoppin’s day started like most routine schooldays.

“We had just finished up breakfast, and I was on my way out the door to take my daughter to school,” she says. “It was just a typical morning.”

But that’s when she discovered something that was anything but typical.

“The front driver’s side window of my car was completely smashed, and it looked like someone had also tried to pry open the door,” she says.

The burglar made off with her iPod and CD collection.

“What really gets me is that I have a very expensive stereo system and a navigation system in my car, but they didn’t touch either of those,” she says.

For that reason, McCoppin says she suspects kids or teenagers broke into her car.

McCoppin had to come out of pocket for the window repair, but after a few days, life returned to normal. And then …

“That weekend, my car was broken into again, and they had smashed my back driver’s side window.”

And this time the burglar took the iPod charger and a backpack left in the backseat.

“We ended up finding the backpack a few houses down in the alley, but there was nothing of value in it.”

The proximity of both break-ins caused police to raise an eyebrow, McCoppin says, and officers dusted for fingerprints.

She’s hoping police will find a match because car burglaries have become a real problem in her neighborhood, she says.

“I can’t even begin to count how many times my car has been broken into here, but I’d have to guess that it’s at least once a year, if not more,” she says. “And I grew up in this house and later purchased it from my parents. When I was kid living here, we never had any crimes like this happen. But in the more recent years, it seems like it’s on the rise.”

The repeated car burglaries have left McCoppin feeling helpless, she says.

“I have five cars but only two can fit into my garage, so I’m forced to park some of them in the back alleyway,” she says. “I wish I could park all my cars in the garage, but I simply can’t.”

Dallas Police Sr. Cpl. Terri Smith of the North Central Division says if garage parking isn’t an option, residents should take other preventative measures.

“If you cannot park your vehicles in a garage, make sure you activate the alarm, and make sure you invest in a good car alarm if it’s going to be parked outside,” Smith says. “And install motion detector lights or park under a light that is illuminated all night. Also, always hide valuables or anything that might even look like it has something valuable inside it, like a backpack or briefcase.”