Thieves caught on camera taking garage openers to enter homes in East Bay
DANVILLE, Calif. - A quiet neighborhood in the East Bay was hit by thieves who stole garage openers from cars and got inside homes. Danville police are warning residents about crimes of opportunity.
Neighbors in the community off Crow Canyon Road said they are feeling violated. Multiple neighbors woke up Sunday morning coming face to face with the group of thieves on their property.
The group was caught on surveillance video breaking into cars, garages, and homes. They were seen driving a white Honda Accord through the neighborhood on Sunday at around 7 a.m.
"They’re brazen," said one neighbor, Mike Pawlawski, who said he caught them walking into his garage while he was in it. "They broke into my car, they took the remote from my car to pop the garage."
"Three of these guys were coming into my garage, black hoodies, face masks, the whole nine yards," Pawlawski said. "I yelled at them, took off after them, and they got to the car and sped off."
"They came through and they were super-fast. They got out of the car, they split up and it was really obvious they were looking for garage door openers," said another neighbor Billy Grove.
In one case, they entered a home with a woman and kids inside. The woman chased them out when neighbors said the men tried to steal her car.
"While they were running away from her, they were laughing at her," said Jeff Su, who collected the surveillance videos from neighbors.
Danville police said at least eight cars were broken into and five garages were entered.
"Danville police responded really fast and they were able to begin a pursuit right away," said Su.
Neighbors complained after they said Danville police had to end their pursuit at the Contra Costa-Alameda County border.
"Once they crossed into Dublin, the perpetrators, the criminals got away," said Su.
Just two weeks ago, a carload of thieves were caught on surveillance doing the same thing in Moraga on a Sunday morning.
Moraga police said about 15 cars were hit and four homes were entered.
In both cases, police said many of the cars were unlocked, making it a crime of opportunity.
Police cannot confirm whether these two cases are related, but people in the Danville neighborhood are now on high alert.
Authorities remind residents to lock all their doors. They also said people should not leave their garage door openers anywhere visible or accessible.
Police asked if anyone in the community has additional information to aid the investigation, they can contact Danville Police Department Sergeant Daniel Lynch at dlynch@danville.ca.gov or 925-314-3703.