OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — Overland Park police believe multiple people broke into 18 cars at the New Theater Restaurant parking lot during a show on Sunday night.
"It's unprecedented for this area. It's well-lit, there's a lot of foot traffic, a lot of traffic in this area," police spokesperson John Lacy said.
Lacy said windows were smashed in and the suspects took various items.
When Robert Hooten left Sunday night’s performance of the “Million Dollar Quartet” at the New Theater Restaurant he knew from the get-go something off.
“We did see two to three different police officers with big lights. I stepped and slid and when I slid it was on the glass of the car next to me that was laying on the ground and then I came around and noticed that was my truck had been broken into,” Hooten said.
Thieves targeted Hooten and 17 other theater-goers—mainly the owners of trucks and SUV.
"One of the vehicles had a firearm, so that's a little concerning for us," Lacy said. "You never know what they're going to use it for."
Lacy said he believes the suspects were looking for guns.
Rob, who didn't want his last name used, is a victim.
"That's what I figured, why they were looking in the center console. A lot of people who conceal and carry or carry weapons put it in the center console," Rob said.
He says the show ended around 10 p.m. and he walked out to find the back window of his truck broken in.
"The center console was flipped up. The center part of the seat was flipped up also, and they had gone through that. Gone through my glove department," Rob said.
Rob doesn't believe the vandals got away with anything valuable.
New Theater Restaurant tells 41 Action News their security staff didn't see the crimes happening, but will make sure an incident like this never happens again. The marketing manager said the staff operates full time and patrols around the property.
The business doesn't have surveillance.
Lacy says officers found evidence at the scene that probably belongs to the suspects.
The same night, three more vehicles were broken into at Red Lobster, just down the street at 95th and Metcalf.
"Right around the same time. Pretty sure it's related," Lacy said.
Law enforcement tells 41 Action News there are ways to deter this type of crime.
Earlier this year, more than a dozen cars were broken in at Marriott on Metcalf near I-435. But once the hotel installed a wrought-iron fence, the thefts stopped.
Police said thieves simply don’t like it when there’s one way in and one way out.
“We just have to try to do the best we can and catch them. people have to keep their eyes open, they have to watch,” Hooten said.
VANDALS STRIKE PLAZA
Across town on the Plaza, KCPD is looking into something similar.
Witnesses say a group of around 30 teenagers were running down Emanuel Cleaver II Blvd., just east of the Plaza, around 9:30 Saturday night. They were climbing and stomping on parked cars and smashing windshields.
Police say they got two reports of a group of teens looking into cars at Cleaver and Campbell around the same time.
The city has an enforced curfew from May 26 through Sept. 24. For minors 15 and younger, the curfew is 10 p.m. For minors ages 16 and 17, the curfew is 11 p.m.
The Plaza has had issues with large groups of teenagers starting fights and vandalizing cars for at least the past six years. The curfew was put in place to help stop some of that activity.
Overland Park Police and KCPD need information to find the vandals.
