Nearly 20 cars broken into at apartment complex in west Houston

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- The day got off to a bad start for neighbors at the 7 Square apartment complex in west Houston who arrived to discover their vehicles had been burglarized.

Amanda Villanueva says she knew exactly what was going on when she walked into her parking garage and saw a group of her neighbors standing around shattered glass.

"My back passenger window was smashed, and all the trucks around me had their windows, at least one window, smashed," Villanueva said.

The front driver's side window of Villanueva's Chevy truck was broken. Nothing was stolen, but she says the repair will cost her.

"It's just really frustrating," she said.

Overnight, at least 20 cars, trucks and SUVs were vandalized or broken into at the apartment complex along the Katy Freeway.

Villanueva says this is the fourth time she has been through car burglaries in the past three years. But she says this is the first time her car has been burglarized at 7 Square since moving there 13 months ago.

"We moved here because we thought it was going to be more secure," Villanueva said.

The driver's side window of Taylor Garner's brand new truck was also smashed, but thieves missed the bag of tools he says is worth more than $1,000.

"They didn't know what they were looking at," Garner said.

Eyewitness News tried to talk to the manager at 7 Square Apartments about security there, but she wouldn't answer questions and referred us to the corporate owners.

Several residents said they're disappointed about the lack of security.

"The gate is open half the time," Garner said. "They say there is a security guard. I've lived here three months and never seen him once."

Houston police confirmed they started getting calls about the break-ins around 5:30 a.m.

Officials could not say how many people reported vandalism or theft.

If you were a victim, you can report it by calling the HPD non-emergency number at 713-884-3131.