The break-ins occurred on Wildflower Court, then Engen Loop and then Cottage Loop late July 2 and early July 3.
And at least in the case of Engen Loop and Cottage Loop, residents say their cars were locked.
Engen Loop resident Melissa Allen said her daughter’s and her neighbor’s cars were broken into. Her driveway camera shows someone in a mask and gloves simply opening the locked car door.
“It looked like … this person had a device in their left hand,” Allen told KPCW. “Of course, my stomach dropped when I saw that, and I said, you know, ‘Call the police. I have it on film.’”
The cases are under investigation, but according to Summit County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Skyler Talbot, deputies’ best theory is what’s called a “relay attack.”
That’s where someone uses a device to boost a key fob’s signal, even if it’s inside a building, to unlock a car.
“I know a lot of times folks will keep an extra fob in their locked car,” Talbot said. “We would certainly advise against that, because the closer that fob is to those devices, the easier it's going to be for them to pick up that signal and use that to gain access to your car.”
Allen said her daughter’s keys were on the stairs near their front door. But they were lucky, she said, there was no damage to the car and only her daughter’s work ID card was taken. Allen’s neighbor’s car was a rental and didn’t contain anything valuable either.
“So a big bust for them,” she said.
Talbot said a wallet was taken from the car on Wildflower Court but nothing of value was taken from Cottage Loop.
The burglaries happened between 10:40 p.m. and 2:40 a.m.
Based on surveillance footage, deputies don’t have any reason to believe more than one person was involved in the thefts. There aren’t any suspects right now.
