HENRICO COUNTY, Va. — A string of car break-ins has some residents in Henrico's Sandston community frustrated, wondering if anyone will be held accountable.
Bobby Haller, the owner of a vape business broken into back in September, told CBS 6 earlier this week that he's still waiting on an arrest in that case.
Haller said he shared his concerns on social media, seeing a number of car and home break-ins week after week.
"People who've lost faith in the police department, in the system, and now they're going to start turning to protecting their own property and doing it themselves," Haller told CBS 6. "It's pretty disheartening."
Henrico County Board of Supervisors Chairman Tyrone Nelson said there will be increased police presence in the evening hours, but understands the frustration, noting that police are down about 80 officers.
"I'm getting messages with people saying the police are not doing anything. That's not true. They are. Maybe it's not moving quickly enough for you. I get it. It's your property," Nelson said.
After seeing Haller and Nelson's interviews on CBS 6, Jessica Kidwell, a Highland Springs resident who was also a victim of a string of car break-ins earlier this year, reached out to us.
"Each street would be hit, and it'd just be the next one, and the next one, like a pattern," Kidwell said.
The professional photographer had about $8,000 worth of equipment stolen out of her car the night before she had an early morning shoot back in May.
“It is discouraging to even start," Kidwell said. "Like, I had resigned from a job that I thought was going to be a lifelong career because of some medical issues, and I was like, okay, I’ll go back to photography until I’m better and then I’ll try again, and then that was stolen from me.”
After filing a police report, she shared as much information as she could with investigators and even took to social media to see if her camera was being resold online.
She later spotted the camera, which had a custom strap, on Facebook marketplace.
She says her diligence in staying on the case, as well as the help of investigators, led to a conviction in September.
“Thankfully I was able to get a conviction and restitution in my case, but if I hadn’t done that, I’d still be sitting here without one, and maybe the next street, the next street, and the next street would continue to be getting hit," Kidwell said. “It’s kind of stopped in our area after the conviction, I don’t know if that’s related, but now they’re in Sandston, and I am sick and tired of it.”
Kidwell said she's encouraging communities to try to work in partnership with law enforcement.
"We really need to go ahead and assist the law enforcement that is understaffed, they have so much that they’re doing, it sucks for us just as much as it sucks for them," Kidwell said. "We can join mentorship programs, we can be showing up at meetings, we have a great neighborhood watch where I live, I would love for every neighborhood here to have a neighborhood watch.”
Kidwell said she and another neighbor were able to get results, likely by having cameras near their home, and by continuing to push forward with their case.
"Get involved, get cameras, pockets willing, of course. Create neighborhood watches," Kidwell said. "The squeaky wheel gets the oil. I mean I really had to be a squeaky wheel, and I did get the oil, and I feel very lucky, and I hope we can all get oil.”
Nelson shareda post on X saying there will be a town hall meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 19 at 6 p.m. at Sandston Elementary School.
"The Police Department will be with us discussing past and current issues in the community," the post read.
If you have information that could help detectives, call Henrico Police at 804-501-5000 or Crime Stoppers at 804-780-1000.
CBS 6 is committed to sharing community voices on this important topic. Email your thoughts to the CBS 6 Newsroom.
📲: CONNECT WITH US
Facebook|Instagram|X|Threads|TikTok
EAT IT, VIRGINIA restaurant news and interviews
