St. Louis County responds to 200 car break-ins

EARTH CITY, Mo. (KMOV.com) — A rash of car break-ins has officers in the St. Louis area on edge.

The St. Louis County Police Department said officers found 50 cars with broken windows and/or items stolen from in the 13300 block of Lakefront Drive in Earth City on Nov. 4. The department said an Amazon facility in Fenton was also hit that night, with at least eight cars found with broken windows and/or items stolen from them.

“It’s an epidemic in St. Louis County we’ve never seen in 30 years of law enforcement. I have never seen the number of vehicle break-ins we’ve had in the last few months,” Councilman Tim Fitch said.

The police department said they’ve taken reports of nearly 200 car break-ins and five guns stolen from cars. Investigators said most of the break-ins are happening at 24-hour operating facilities like UPS and Amazon.