‘It was just a mess’: Dormont neighbors wake up to several car break-ins, smashed windows

DORMONT, Pa. — A number of cars were damaged after a rash of break-ins in Dormont overnight.

Several neighbors on Pinehurst Avenue woke up Sunday to find their car windows smashed and ransacked.

Danielle White, who lives on the street, considers herself one of the lucky ones. White’s doors were left unlocked, so her window was spared but her car was rummaged through.

“My whole glove box was opened; it was just a mess in there,” White said. “My stuff was everywhere. The whole inside had been gone through. They pulled out all of my papers, my insurance, just threw it everywhere.”

White said nothing was taken but she doesn’t feel safe.

“It’s weird,” she said. “It feels like they’ve invaded your privacy. Now they know my name. They know my address. They know a little bit more than I needed them to know.”

On nearby Kelton Avenue, Channel 11 saw at least five more cars with broken windows.

Kayla McQuaide said someone tried breaking into her boyfriend’s truck. The window was cracked but not broken.

“It looks like they hit it at least three times,” McQuaide said. “It didn’t go all way through, just the surface.”

Dormont Police Sgt. Sagwitz said at least 10 cars were reported to be broken into overnight. In most of those cases, he said windows were broken but nothing was stolen.

“My son’s guess was they were looking for guns in glove boxes because we can’t think of why they didn’t take anything of any value,” White said.

Doorbell camera video shows at least four people roaming the streets shining flashlights into parked cars. At this point, police don’t have any suspects.

Homeowners tell Channel 11 this isn’t the first time their neighborhood’s been hit.

“I thought dormant was a safe place to live,” McQuaide said. “Now there’s multiple break-ins like once a week. It’s kind of scary.”

White said her car window was smashed and her airbag was stolen just a couple of months ago.

“It just needs to stop,” she said. “These kids, or whoever it is, adults, the money’s not coming out of their pockets. We work hard for our money.”

Many neighbors said they’re now thinking about adding security cameras to their homes to keep would-be thieves away.

Police are asking anyone who might have caught the crimes on surveillance video to share it with them.

Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW

©2024 Cox Media Group