SPRINGVILLE, N.Y. (WKBW) — The normally quiet Village of Springville has been anything but lately. Car break-ins are on the rise; some people have been hit multiple times.
"It makes me anxious at night," Catherine Mammoser said. "You would think living in the country, it's very calm, cool and collected, but the past few weeks have shown otherwise."
Mammoser saw two attempted break-ins on her Ring camera in one month. Both times, her cars were locked and nothing was stolen.
"You make sure it's locked, and you go back out one more time to make sure it's locked," she said.
Let's look at this increase, car larcenies in Springville, between June 1 and September 22nd:
- 2024: 3
- 2025: 27
In a lot of these recent cases, cars were unlocked.
WATCH: 'Makes me anxious': Village of Springville seeing an increase in car break-ins
"They're all crimes of opportunity," Lt. Jeremy Lehning said. "On September 2, there was a total of 6 calls, all for car larcenies. Every single one of those vehicles was unlocked, every single one of those vehicles had valuables in plain view."
Lehning says the problem is not exclusive to Springville. He says it's hard for his deputies to be everywhere, and a lot of times when they show up, these suspects are gone.
"A lot of the youths that we've encountered that we have caught and arrested are from the city, and they're branching out into the suburban areas," Lt. Lehning said.
Village leaders are working toward a solution.
"We're working together to try and come up with a policy that will alleviate some of this multi-jurisdictional crime that is happening," Jessica Schuster, Village Trustee, said.
In the meantime, the message is to lock your car.
"If you're not locking your car, you're going to be a victim of this crime," Lehning said.
