Cape Coral residents urged to lock car doors amid burglary rise

The Cape Coral Police Department is urging residents to lock their car doors to prevent vehicle burglaries.

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Since the start of the year, the department has reported a significant number of burglaries across the city, many of which occurred because people weren’t locking up.

A map shows four major hotspots in Cape Coral with over 50 incidents marked.

At a shopping center off North East Pine Island Road, Anthony Miller said, “It’s overwhelming. I’ll be right. It’s a lot. I couldn’t believe it happened over here.”

Over seven miles away in South Cape, Cosette Dunkel expressed surprise about the area’s crime rate, saying, “So we’re in a hot spot. I’m not even someone that normally locks. I wouldn’t have even thought that this would be an area that would have that crime rate.”

The Cape Coral Police Department advises that the same precautions apply in shopping centers, bar and restaurant parking lots, and neighborhoods. Gonzalez and Diaz emphasized, “Just lock your doors.”

Miller added, “It’s simple. I mean basic stuff. I mean, you don’t want to be a victim.”

Dunkel concluded, “I think it’s like kind of eye opening, to be a little more safe, more like conscious of it.”