MEMPHIS, Tenn.– As car break-ins become a growing crime trend in Memphis, the problem is proving to be not only an invasion of privacy but also a major inconvenience.
WREG has reported dozens of car break-ins and vandalisms over the last few months. From malls, to restaurants and even work parking lots, it seems nowhere is safe.
Gregory Locke with Auto Glass Now on Lamar said the problem is getting so out of hand, glass for some vehicles is on back order for at least three months.
“We’ve seen an increase of a lot of cars being broken into, a lot of them by the 50s at a time, lot of companies around here getting hit overnight,” Locke said. “We’ve got issues with boats being unloaded. from overseas. That’s one of the problems and of course Dodge Chargers, Challengers. It’s extremely hard to find a glass for one of those vehicles because those are mainly being targeted around here.”
Store manager Aysha Goodman said on any given day just at this location the shop gets 100 calls about replacing glass doors and windows due to smash-and-grabs.
“I hear many stories a day and it’s just sad because it’s like you can’t have nothing nice in your own city. It’s ridiculous,” Goodman said.
With back orders for about 130 cars and now doing repairs for both car vandalism and ice storm victims, the two say the business is overwhelmed but they’re looking at the glass half full.
“We’ve had to make adjustments and hire additional staff to kind of keep up with the curve,” Locke said. “In one hand we make more money when crime does happen because we sell more glass and unfortunately its still kind of sad to see some of the people come in and see how upset they are because their vehicles have been vandalized.”
Auto Glass Now said window repair for a car break-in could cost between $175 to $400.