A string of multiple car burglaries have two Panama City neighborhoods on edge. Panama City police have made arrests in the case but are still looking for more suspects.
On Friday afternoon, the Candlewick and Venetian Villa neighborhoods look quite and crime-free, but a recent string of car burglaries is making residents anxious.
"It does concern me, yes," said resident Glenn Hope.
Hope says his neighbor noticed a group of people walking the streets of his neighborhood early one morning.
"I'm just worried about people that don't live in this neighborhood that are prowling around at 4 a.m., nothing good comes that early," Hope said.
And now, hearing that those same streets are the target of up to 25 car burglaries, he will be more cautious.
"Sometimes we don't always lock our doors, we do forget and I have left my garage door open at night, but from what I hear now I will definitely be checking more often," Hope added.
Police have arrested 19-year old Kathelynn Wythe and 28-year old Robert Grogan in relation to the case and have warrants out for at least two more.
"When you exit your vehicles lock it. Don't leave your valuables in it, don't leave your iPod in it, don't leave your iPads, your laptop computer. Don't leave your purse in your car and then leave your car unlocked…you are just inviting the opportunity for this to take place," said Panama City Police Sergeant Mark Smith.
The street term for these types of burglaries is called car hopping what the burglars do is check the doors of all these cars and if they are locked they move on to the next one just hoping it will open.
"Once they find the car door open they go in and they pull from what they can from the vehicle and if the cars are locked they move on," Smith said.
Police were able to track down both Wythe and Grogan through pawn shop records where they sold thousands of dollars of the stolen property. Stolen were items ranging from iPods and mp3 players to laptops and GPS devices. More arrests are expected in this case.
If you have any information, you are asked to call the Panama City Police Department or you can remain anonymous by calling CrimeStoppers at 785-TIPS.
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