Gossamer Grove gets hit by car break-ins

A string of vehicle break-ins has prompted the Shafter Police Department to advise residents to be extra vigilant in protecting their cars and property.

According to Lt. Joshua Stephens, several residents in the Gossamer Grove area had their vehicles broken into, with the actual vehicle thefts thwarted.

It wasn’t just random vehicles, either, with Kias and Hyundais being the targets of choice. It is not known why these were targeted, especially since the make of choice in recent years has been Hondas.

“On Sunday night [April 14], several vehicles had their windows smashed and broken into, with the apparent goal of stealing the vehicles, but they didn’t complete the deed,” said Stephens.

One resident who fell victim to the perpetrators was Joshua Vaughn, who woke up to the unpleasant surprise on Monday morning. "Completely had no idea, I woke up super early, and I couldn't believe my eyes," Vaughn said. "It's a real big bummer when you're in a rush for work and you come outside to that sight of the broken glass on the ground and realizing you can't even start your car to get to work.”

According to police reports, one resident had security camera video of two individuals running from a vehicle that had an alarm going off.

Stephens said that while they don’t know why those specific makes of cars were targeted, it is worth the time to take measures to protect vehicles and property. “I definitely think it's something for people to be cognizant of that those vehicles for whatever reason are targeted,” said Stephens. “Preventative measures are always the best. Keeping your vehicles in well-lit areas, making sure the vehicle is locked, making sure that there aren't valuables inside the vehicle that you can see from the outside is always a good practice. We tell people all the time not to leave anything of value inside their vehicles. He said that it just tends to make residents a target for people who want to steal things.

Stephens emphasized that department is making strides on the case, and they hope to have an update soon.

He said that during this incident very few calls were made to the Police Department. “We would rather come out and have nothing come of it, than not get any calls and have an incident like Sunday's occur.”