Surveillance Cameras Capture Naugatuck Car Break-Ins

Lock up! That’s the warning from Naugatuck police after nearly two dozen cars were broken into over the last few days.

Police say burglars are stealing from unlocked cars across town and are searching for the people responsible.

NBC Connecticut obtained exclusive home surveillance video of one of those crimes.

The footage shows a vehicle pulling up to a driveway on Church Street overnight Tuesday. Two men get out and head toward one of the parked cars. They open the unlocked doors and take whatever they can find.

One camera angle gives a good look at the pair rummaging through the homeowner's car for a few minutes. The resident said they stole a phone and some cash.

“It makes you angry it makes you feel violated,” said Naugatuck resident Norman Cool, whose cars were also broken into that night on Gabriel Drive. “The glove compartments were open, the GPS was gone.”

Cool's neighbors were also targeted.

“The glove compartment was open everything inside the glove compartment was on the seat,” said Antonella Albi. Two of her cars on Olivia Lane were ransacked. “I'm a little fearful.”

Naugatuck police say nearly two dozen cars have been targeted recently. It’s unclear whether the culprits shown on the Church Street surveillance footage are linked to the other crimes.

“The kids are walking around lifting door handles, if the doors are unlocked, and taking whatever they can,” said Naugatuck police Det. Jay Pugliese. “Lock your car doors.”

Residents are taking his advice.

“We lived here for years and years. We never locked the doors," said Cool. "Now we lock our doors.”

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