Menacing band of car burglars caught on camera in Antioch

Posted: Jul 13, 2023 / 03:37 PM PDT

Updated: Jul 13, 2023 / 06:55 PM PDT

ANTIOCH, Calif. (KRON) — Imagine that it’s 2:30 a.m. and you’re awakened by your home security system.

When you check the video, you see a disturbing site: Multiple people in hooded sweats tops, their faces covered, roaming the streets, breaking into vehicles — including the cars in your driveway.

“When I see them I didn’t know what was happening. I was like, ‘I hope they don’t try to go through the garage.’ I was like, ‘I am not going out there by myself.’ It was about 10 of them,” said Mike Allen, whose vehicle was burglarized.

It happened in the early morning on July 6 in the Country Hills neighborhood in the City of Antioch. The person heard on the phone in the video said his car is the one being burglarized in the video. He asked not to reveal his identity.

“They broke into my girlfriend’s car,” Allen said. “She had her baby bag in the car. They went in there rummaging through everything. The following morning, I saw three other cars down the street that they did the same thing.”

Antioch Police Department Spokesperson, Sgt. Price Kendall called the crime unusual.

“It is unusual that you see that many people, a large group, would go around looking into cars and walking the neighborhood,” Kendall said. “This happens frequently. It’s usually one or two people and there is a car associated. On this evening, it was just a large group of people wandering the neighborhood.”

Sgt. Kendall said the investigation is ongoing but at this point it appears this group was checking for unlocked car doors and strategically avoided breaking and entering.

“There were definitely crimes of opportunity,” Kendall said. “Through one of the videos, you can see they were able to walk up to the car. The car was more than likely unlocked.”