Raleigh police investigating seven break-ins since April in Brier Creek

Brier Creek residents are upset with a recent string of break-ins.

It comes as police say break-ins to start the year are their highest since 2022.

According to the Raleigh Police Department, officers have investigated seven breaking-and-entering incidents involving cars since April 1. Police said the crimes have happened near gyms in the Brier Creek area.

One of those victims, Amy Brown, said her car was broken into on May 6 while she was working out at Planet Fitness.

“As I was leaving, a lady I talk to a lot and another gentleman met me at the door and said, ‘I think your car has been broken into. I think they busted the glass on the door,’” she said.

Brown said she was frustrated by the incident, adding that break-ins have been an issue at the gym.

“This has happened multiple times,” she said. “If I would’ve had it on my radar, I don’t know if it would have been able to prevent it, but it wouldn’t have been such a shock.”

Brown said nothing was taken from her car, but she said the break-in cost her $300 to repair.

Cory Rippeto said he goes to the same Planet Fitness about three times a week and said he’s concerned.

“[You] can’t stop people from breaking into things all the time,” he said.

The break-ins are part of an uptick in break-ins to start the year. According to crime data from the Raleigh Police Department, break-ins involving motor vehicles are the second highest in the first four months of the year in the last 10 years, with 1,045 reports from January 1 to April 30. In 2022, Raleigh police reported 1,102 car break-ins in the same period.

Jason Borneo with the Raleigh Police Department said most people breaking into cars are trying other methods before they smash windows.

“Those who are breaking into vehicles, they’re trying the handles open,” he said. “If the door opens, they’re not going to take the time to break into it by smashing the window. But if they see something valuable, they’re going to break the window, and it takes mere seconds to get in the vehicle and get out.”

As for the seven break-ins, Borneo said police do not know if they are connected.

“Anytime we have these types of incidents, and they are similar in nature, location and motive, we are going to look at those connections and see what the patterns are,” he said.

Rippeto said he does what police recommend to keep belongings safe in cars, such as removing valuable items from his car and locking his doors. He hopes the gym will add extra measures to keep people’s belongings safe in the future.

“I hope there are at least security cameras around the place in the event of something like that they can check and get info on how that happened,” he said.

WRAL News reached out to Planet Fitness, who provided the following statement:

"At Planet Fitness, member and team member safety is our top priority, and we take these matters extremely seriously. The local franchise owner is working with police in their investigation. For additional questions, we direct you to the local authorities.”