‘Very, very unusual’: 50 car break-ins in 24 hours near Galleria mall and across Roseville

Roseville police are investigating a rash of 50 car break-ins across the city in a 24-hour period, officials said Friday.

Around 12 a.m. Thursday, officers received a few calls from people near the intersection of Gibson Drive and Roseville Parkway about shattered car windows, Officer Rob Baquera said.

When officers arrived at a lot next to the Westfield Galleria mall area, they realized the problem was bigger than they had expected. Instead of two or three burglarized cars, officers found 30, Baqeura said.

Cars in the Galleria parking lot were hit, as were vehicles parked near the Hyatt Hotel.

Then, throughout the day, the Police Department received more calls regarding robbed vehicles, ultimately discovering an additional 20 burglaries around the city.

The burglaries occurred in clusters, Baquera said: A group of cars near the intersection of Sunrise Avenue and Lead Hill Drive were broken into, and people reported finding other pockets of break-ins several miles apart.

Baquera said there was no obvious pattern to the “very, very unusual” spate of burglaries. Stolen objects ran the “full gamut,” from spare change to trunk-hidden luggage to computers in computer bags.

The Police Department didn’t know whether all 50 burglaries were connected as of Friday morning, Baquera said, but were investigating as such.

“We’re following up on leads. but we really need the public’s help to solve this,” Baquera said. He encouraged anyone who witnessed or heard talk of suspicious behavior to contact the police department, which provides monetary rewards for tips via the Crime Stoppers program, at (916) 774-5000.

This story was originally published July 20, 2018 at 9:51 AM.