Hamilton County, Indiana – Two different police departments’ investigators are looking into a spate of smash-and-grabs that occurred in Hamilton County over the weekend.
Carmel police were called to the Carmel Dads’ Club property on Friday night after multiple vehicles had things stolen from them.
A man in a yellow shirt was seen approaching a pickup truck, peering inside, and then smashing the window with a tool on a car’s dashcam. In a matter of seconds, he reached in and took the laptop-containing backpack that was resting on the passenger seat.
He came back a short while later and chose a black SUV as his target. He broke through the passenger side window even faster than previously, stealing a woman’s pocketbook.
“I walked up and my whole window was all clumped together in big pieces,” said Dacia Clark.
Clark claimed to be inside the facility watching one of her children’s games when she claimed ownership of the pocketbook.
Even worse, her boyfriend’s unlocked automobile was parked directly next to her. Another man was seen poring through it on the dash camera before leaving with a laptop.
“I was really upset,” Clark said. “I was real emotional. I just couldn’t believe it happened.”
The robber not only took her pocketbook but also everything inside, including her credit cards and driver’s license.
“While I was standing with the officer that was doing the report I got an alert on my phone that they tried to use my card at a gas station,” Clark explained.
When Clark arrived at the gas station, he saw that the thief had bought Visa gift cards worth more than $500.
On Sunday afternoon at Hamilton Southeastern High School in Fishers, a similar incident occurred once more. According to local police, at least two automobiles had their windows broken and stuff taken.
“It is so fast that nobody really realizes what is going on,” Gerry Hepp with Fishers Police said.
If the incidents in Fishers and Carmel are related remains unknown.
Hepp claimed that these kinds of instances rise when the weather warms. Whether a car is locked or not, he claimed, makes no difference.
“It’s simply you can’t leave anything within view in your vehicle,” Hepp said.
Clark was able to repair her window and have the charge on her credit card reversed once she got back to Carmel.
She claimed the incident had greatly increased her level of caution, and she hoped the thieves would be apprehended.
“It just makes you like sick to your stomach like how someone can do that,” Clark said.
The cases, according to Carmel and Fishers police, have not been resolved.
Calling the investigators with any information on these instances is requested.
